Yes, Jebus Loves You

Films in 2011 - MAY (8 / 81)

2011-06-27T12:15:00.001+10:00

74 The Troll Hunter 3
75 Paper Man 2
76 The Objective 0.5
77 *Fantastic Four 2.5
78 Straw Dogs 2
79 Source Code 2.5
80 I've Loved You So Long 4
81 Insidious 2

Films in 2011 - APRIL (10 / 73)

2011-06-27T12:13:00.000+10:00

64 *Serenity 2
65 How I Ended This Summer 1
66 Next 1
67 Suspect Zero 1.5
68 The War You Don't See 5
69 Incendies 4
70 Paul 3
71 Unstoppable 0.5
72 Thor 3.5
73 Scream 4 3

Films in 2011 - SMARCH (14 / 63)

2011-04-06T11:57:00.000+10:00

Again, might add reviews/notes later on.

50 The Boat That Rocked 3
51 The Adjustment Bureau 3.5
52 Enron - The Smartest Guys In The Room 4
53 Rango 3.5
54 Meet The Spartans 0.1
55 National Geographic - Drain The Oceans 1.5
56 Battle Los Angeles 3
57 Waiting for Superman 4
58 For The Bible Tells Me So 2.5
59 From Paris With Love 1
60 Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door 2.5
61 Griff The Invisible 3
62 Reagan 3
63 Never Let Me Go 3.5

Films in 2011 - FEBRUARY (19 / 49)

2011-04-06T11:55:00.000+10:00

Been slack, but who cares eh? Might add reviews later.

31 The Limey 3
32 The Squid and The Whale 3
33 Inside The Firestorm 5
34 *Kung Fu Panda
35 *Hulk
36 The Other Guys 1
37 Get Him To The Greek 2
38 La Haine 3
39 The Tillman Story 2.5
40 Restrepo 2
41 Hotel Rwanda 3.5
42 The Future of Food 4
43 talhotblond 3
44 *Jurassic Park 3.5
45 *The Abyss 4
46 Alien Vs Predator 1
47 Conviction 3
48 Unknown 2.5
49 The Smashing Machine 1.5

Films in 2011 - JANUARY (30 / 30)

2011-02-16T09:35:00.009+11:00

Another year, another slew of films. After a month and a half (it's now Feb 16th) I'm actually keeping pretty good pace, maybe PROJECT 365 isn't as dead as first thought?

I couldn't be arsed adding IMDB links any more, it's not like anyone reads this blog so why bother making no one's life easier by adding links?

*Toy Story 3 - not as good the second time around, just didn't have that sense of wonder that the first one seems to still be able to evoke.

Black Death - a rather pedestrian film with very average performances, effects and a rather poor script. Some mildly entertaining gore and a bit of a twist lifts it slightly. 1.5 / 5

44 Inch Chest - not the film I was expecting. For some reason I thought this was some kind of heist film, when in reality it's about a bunch of foul mouthed criminals who have kidnapped a man for sleeping with one of their wives and it focuses on what they plan on doing to him. Good performances but not for everyone. 2.5 / 5

Jennifer's Body - pathetically crap. Gets half a point for the glimpses of Megan Fox's body. 0.5 / 5

*Avatar - this was the extended cut, only one scene seemed to really add to the story (the school room) but otherwise it's still the same technically brilliant but still kinda rubs me the wrong way film.

Road to Guantanamo - doco about some UK citizens caught in Afghanistan and sent to the titular prison. I'm still not 100% convinced they weren't there for some other, possibly nefarious reasons, but either way their treatment was horrendous. 2.5 / 5

Clash of the Titans - what was the fucking point? Seriously? Gets 1 for some nice effects but otherwise this is a blight on modern cinema. 1 /5

Tangled - a return to classic Disney cinema which they attempted with The Princess & The Frog but this outshines it a hundred-fold. Great story, great humour, not unpleasant songs. 4 / 5

*The Aristocrats - still funny, still filthy.

Humpday - fairly average film that had some interesting points, but mostly quite slow and pedestrian with no real flair in story or acting. 1.5 / 5

Kingdom of Heaven - this is the Director's cut (I've not seen the apparently appalling theatrical release) and although it was interesting and had some great action pieces, I just detest Orlando Bloom as an actor - he's totally shite and casting him was a major mistake. 2.5 / 5

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - In April 2002, an Irish film crew is making a documentary about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, when a coup from the opposition is made. Interesting although I wish it went into more detail about the clearly US backing of the Opposition coup. Fascinating sections on how state run TV can be used against and for a Government to sway the opinions of the people. 2 / 5

Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog doco about an absolute nutter who clearly has various mental issues and a fascination with bears and their conservation that eventually leads to his death at their jaws and paws. 3 / 5

Children of Beslan - heartbreaking doco about the siege in Beslan told entirely by children who were there, recalling the horror. 3 / 5

Death of a President - interesting but ultimately bland faux-doco about the assassination of George Bush and how blaming an innocent Arab-American and ignoring the evidence can have devastating consequences. 2.5

The Town - quite a good drama with good performances, a strong script and good direction. 3.5

Imagine You & Me - nice little rom-com/drama about a woman getting married to a great guy who then realises she has feelings for another woman and the drama and hi-jinks ensue. Some of the set ups are ridiculously stupid - sure we'll let a florist run around our wedding and reception dancing with the guests. 2.5

The Fighter - fantastic film with great performances all round and some hilariousness throughout. The women were especially strong and Christian Bale was mesmerising. 4.5

St. Trinian's - checked it out to see Lena Headey who is barely in it, but at least Gemma Arterton looks great. Was kinda funny and a bit silly, dunno if I'll bother with the sequel. 1.5

Hollywoodland - I've had this fir a while and didn't check it out 'cause I thought I wouldn't like it, but in the end it's an interesting look a a tragic death and goes into what may have happened. Affleck was fantastic as Reeves. 3.5

Tomorrow, When The War Began - was in keeping with the book although I found Ellie to be a little too pretty for how she is described. I do hope they make the rest of the series but I doubt they'll go beyond another 1 or 2 if any at all. Entertaining, oh and I think I counted maybe 10 or 12 Oz songs heard by 25 minutes in - give ti a rest! 2.5

44 Minutes - faux-docudrama (i.e. actors play all the parts and has no original footage) of the insane 1994 shootout between two bank robbers and dozens of cops on the streets of L.A. Was interesting but you get more out of a 10 minute clip of the real event on YouTube, to be honest. 2 / 5

Black Swan - good performances, a compelling story, some great effects (and one ro two stupid ones) all wrapped up in a very satisfying movie. Lost a point due to Aronofsky shoving mirrors/reflections down our throat and too much unneeded shaky cam. 4 / 5

Legend of the Guardians - boring story, crap voice acting (for the most part) but absolutely stunning animation. If only this aussie animation studio would get some good source material, they could kick arse with a great fantasy or sci-fi story. 2 / 5

Trade - the tragic tale of several girls kidnapped in Mexico and sold across the US border to pedophiles, the story of a brother searching for his abducted sister and a father searching for a daughter he doesn't know. Interesting and heartfelt story, good acting though not great, and a satisfying conclusion - good for a Sunday arvo. 2.5

The Green Hornet - surprisingly funny, stupidly ridiculous action and a fun popcorn entertainment flick is born. 3.5

Stop-Loss - a bit too cliched, especially when it comes to the behaviour of the squad mates, also the initial scenes in Iraq made no sense at all - yes, let's go into the obvious ambush. 2.5

Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day - dull and uninspired sequel to a great film. It should not have been made. 1.5

Body of Lies - interesting if a little overwrought, some good acting and a satisfyingly tense conclusion despite some obvious red herrings. 3 / 5

Centurion - gory, mindless action where you know exactly what is going to happen but you stick around for all the decapitations and ridiculous acting. 2 / 5

Films in 2010 - December (24 / 192)

2011-01-18T10:56:00.004+11:00

Kick-Ass - brilliant, loved it, real piss-take on the typical superhero film. Cage was hilarious, the whole cast was great. 4/5

*Road Trip - it was on TV, I was bored, it's even worse than I recall. 0.5/5

Loose Change 911 An American Coup - another poorly made conspiracy doco about the 9-11 attacks. Actually has a few interesting points but is clearly made by a kid cobbling vision together and with a really bad voice over. Once again doesn't provide any evidence whatsoever for many of the crazier theories, though the ones about the buildings being already rigged to blow are scarily plausible. 1.5/5

*Catfish - still a good film, showed it to the housemate who kept trying to guess what was going on. 3.5/5

Brooklyn's Finest - one of those cops and drug dealer films that you just know won't have a happy ending, and of course it doesn't. Great performances and a pretty good script though. 3/5

The Aviator - had not seen this before and really enjoyed it, Blanchett was absolutely marvellous. 3.5/5

Megamind - quite funny and well voice acted (though Brad Pitt's vpice didn't fit is role), loved the Superman jokes. Still not sold on 3D, it didn't add anything to the admittedly already brilliant animation. 3/5

Predators - dumb, stupid fun with absolutely no surprises. Laurence Fishburne was bloody funny. 2/5

The King's Speech - Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT film. Not perfect, but brilliant. Rush is getting all the Oscar buzz but it should be Firth as he was just perfect in his role, I couldn't take my eyes off him whenever he was on screen. Helena Bonham-Carter was perfect as well. 4.5/5

*True Crime - classic Eastwood thriller. I read the book ages ago and saw the film soon after, still an enjoyable film to see despite already knowing the ending. 3/5

The Fourth Kind - your basic alien abduction thriller with the twist of using "dramatisations of real footage", ahem, yes. It was interesting and fun, had a few tense moments but overall kinda ho-hum. 2.5/5

Shrek Forever After - quite dull, deriviative, all been done before and really lackluster, saved only by a few random laughs. I really hope the planned 5th and 6th films don't come out but this still made plenty of money so I suspect they will. 2/5

Bigger Stronger Faster - interesting doco about 3 brothers in the sport of power-lifting and their struggle with using anabolic steroids. Goes into some fo the scientific scare mongering as well as analysing famous people using them, doesn't really give a definitive answer but is fascinating all the same. 3/5

Despicable Me - deploringly predictable and not as good as many reviewers made out, watchable but rather meh. 2.5/5

Skyline - great concept, damn good execution, deplorable script, atrocious acting, some pretty good special effects, and ending that is just vomit worthy in its stupidity. 2/5

Robin Hood - actually quite the enjoyable romp. Some silly bits but I enjoyed the humour and the set up (clearly this begs for sequels) though was weird seeing American actors do British accents (for some reason not as weird as Aussies doing them). Crowe doesn't destroy the film. 3.5/5

*How To Train Your Dragon - just as much fun the second time around. 4/5

The Princess and the Frog - I can see what Disney tried to do here by moving the action to New Orleans, and it works, but just not well enough for me to be more than reasonably entertained by this relatively traditional Disney fare.. 2.5/5

Armadillo - fascinating embedded doco as we follow a squad of Danish soldiers sent to Afghanistan. Visceral, interesting, scary, real, eye opening. Not the best Afghan War doco, but up there with the best. 4/5

I'm Still Here - Joaquin Phoenix is without a doubt one of the most brave and versatile actors of the modern age, this film is raw and funny and sad and depressing and ultimately, despite the fact it's not "real" really quite a fascinating look at the Celebrity Machine. 3.5/5

Hachi: A Dog's Story - just a wonderful, poignant, well crafter family film with a beautiful and bittersweet message. Makes me want to see the original. 4/5

The Ghost Writer - a writer is drafted to finish the memoirs of a Tony Blair-esque ex Brit PM but all is not what it seems and the mystery of what his predecessor was up to opens up a whole can of worms. It's well made but really, Polanski needed someone to take a look at the script for him - the obviousness of the twist gets figured out far too early (well I did anyway) and so the rest of the film becomes a bit of a paint-by-numbers game, but having said that it's still an enjoyable film to watch. He just made the clues far to obvious or overt. Still an interesting film but yeah, definitely has script problems. Oh and why he cast Kim Cattrall in a British role I'll never know, what a mistake that was. 2.5/5

*Alien 3 - really not sure why this film gets such a bad rap, I've always liked it though it is very similar to the first film. 3/5

*Alien Resurrection - some fun scenes and great effects let down by quite a poor conclusion. 2.5/5

So a pretty good year in film with the standout being THE ACTRESSES. Managed to almost hit 200, almost as good as my Project 365 attempt in 2009.

So far in January I'm up to 18 films by the 18th, maybe I can get over the previous record of 209 in 2009, time will tell.

God this blog is pointless, I dunno why I bother updating it...

Films in 2010 - November (16 / 168)

2010-12-10T10:24:00.002+11:00

No End In Sight - Iraq's Descent Into Chaos - a disturbing doco about just how royally screwed up the war in Iraq went and how just a few men in the White House made horrendously bad decisions that aided Iraq descending into turmoil and how frustrated the people on the ground were at the lack of vision from the top. Scary stuff to think how stupid and war mongering some people can be. A lot of this stuff I had absolutely no idea about, very educational. 4/5

*Gremlins 2- The New Batch - total classic, still love it. 4/5

Frozen - 3 idiots get trapped on a ski lift and non one's gonna come for them or miss them any time soon. Surprisingly entertaining, mostly so you can laugh at their dumb decisions - "yes, let's jump off this chair feet first onto hard snow, my legs will be fine!" 3/5

The Mist - absolutely idiotic horror film which only gets points for some interesting creature designs. Ending was obvious it was coming but fun all the same. 1.5/5

The Last Airbender - M Night Shyamalan takes a wonderfully funny, poignant and well scripted cartoon, chops off its head and shits down its neck. Points only for including Appa and Momo. 0.5/5

The Crazies - a remake of a John Romero film (which I haven't seen). It had its moments but is pretty much a ho-hum kinda horror film. Has a few annoying plot holes. 2.5/5

Fair Game - fascinating dramatisation of the CIA agent exposed by her own government because her husband spoke out about the lies that started the Iraq War. Sean Penn and Naomi Watts are both very strong and perfect for these roles. The more I read and see about how the US invaded Iraq the more I see just how evil a few men at the top truly are. 4/5

Gamer - quite gory and hyper-realistic frenetic mish-mash of a film. Had a few good moments but overall pretty stupid stuff where actual people are controlled by other humans in both a social networking game and a game of brutal death. Dumb and somewhat fun in parts. 2/5

Addicted To Plastic - quite a scary doco about just how much plastic we waste and how much of it ends up in our seas - seriously there are millions of tonnes of it out there - and how it ends up in our food chain. Has some interesting interviews with people and companies that are truly recycling plastics, and not just making pointless objects but some are putting it to great use. 4/5

The Disappearance of Alice Creed - a taut UK thriller that has a few surprises but ends up a little on the predictable side in the final third. Really goes to show you, though, what can be done with a tight script, 3 or 4 locations and only 3 actors in the entire film. 3.5/5

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 - not as bad as the last one, not as good as the third, better than the first. I think it was only watchable because I knew about the story but even then a few things still had me scratching my head. Extra 1.5 for the great 3 brothers animation. 3.5/5

*War of the Worlds - great fun. 3/5

*Forgetting Sarah Marshall - still such a great comedy, probably not something I could watch again and again and again but still great. Also still too much of Jason Segel's wang. 4/5

*Pineapple Express - another good stoner comedy, James Franco is brilliant in this. 3/5

*Wall-E - brilliant, Pixar only did better with Toy Story 3 and The Incredibles. 4.5/5

GasLand - scary doco about the process of Fracking for natural gas reserves across the US where people are being poisoned by the fracking water mixing with their drinking water and how the Federal Government changed the laws to allow it. Isn't brilliantly made but the message behind it is quite powerful, especially when they clearly show people setting their tap water on fire!!! 3/5

Films in 2010 - October (7 / 152)

2010-11-17T11:55:00.002+11:00

*Wargames - it's a bit dated but still good fun. 3/5

*The Shawshank Redemption - despite being beloved by idiotic footballers the world over, it really is quite a good film. 4.5/5

Buried - 97 minute film, 96mins 30secs of that is Ryan Reynolds in a box (and the 30 seconds that isn't ain't what you might think it is). Brilliant concept executed extremely well, the tension is ramped up to 10 from the beginning and never lets up. 4/5

*The Sixth Sense - only the second time I've seen this film and it really is Shyamalan's only truly great film (though I also love Unbreakable). 4.5/5

Made In Dagenham - interesting, funny, mildly historically accurate, well acted, quite enjoyable. 3.5/5

RED - great dumb fun with Malkovich, Willis, Mirren, Freeman and especially Cox tearing up the screen to great effect. Louise-Parker is annoying, Urban works well with what he's got, stupid action done well. 4/5

*Seabiscuit - classic and a great film. 4/5

Yeah, October was a little sparse on the moofie front.

Moofies in 2010 - September (5 / 145)

2010-10-04T10:19:00.002+11:00

The month in which I re-re-re-re-re-re-re-kindled my love affair with The West Wing, hence the appallingly low amount of films I've seen. Sorry, but just can't get enough of Jed and the Gang.

The Swimsuit Issue - just wasn't as funny as I was hoping and was rather predictable. OK for a boring Sunday arvo. 3/5

*Iron Man - was on TV, was bored so watched it. Still don't think it's as brilliant as many seem to think though RDJ is always fun to watch. Still 3.5/5

Date Night - I liked it. It was totally silly but that's exactly what it's supposed to be. Not as funny as I was hoping but you get that with Carell movies. 3/5

*Iron Man 2 - housemate and her BF put it on so I watched it for the hell of it. Still think the ending is stupidly anti-climactic, but again RDJ is good fun and I do like the loose way the "script" moves. Still 3.5/5

Dinner For Schmucks - it had a few few rather amusing moments but overall this was a rather poor amalgamation of the brilliant Cable Guy with some Jerry Lewis leanings on the part of Steve Carell. It was just too flat for 95% of the film. 2.5/5

Moofies in 2010 - August (42 / 140)

2010-09-23T11:26:00.002+10:00

Ha! I saw the exact same amount of films in August as I did July... weird... Anywho:

International Shorts 3 - some great short films, some bad ones, some average ones.

Accelerator 2 - some great short films (The Kiss was stunning), some bad ones, some average ones.

Animation Shorts 2 - mostly crap animated shorts.

Splice - I had high expectations for this science gone too far film from the director of Cube, that may have been an issue as this was total shite. Performances were just dull, the script was laughably stupid (I mean I was literally laughing with derision at some points) the effects started off well and then just dive bombed. Avoid this at all costs as it's quite possible Sarah Polley, Adrien Brody and Vincent Natali's worst film ever. 0.5/5

She, A Chinese - This is the story of Mei, a young woman on a trip from East to West after her escape from her provincial Chinese village. Beginning in Chongqing and a disastrous factory job, Mei soon heads out for London and a marriage to an older man where her entrapment begins anew. It doesn't sound like much but I really quite liked this film, Huang Lu gave Mei a strong and quiet dignity as she struggles to find her place in a world that just doesn't want her. Abused physically and emotionally the story of her struggle to find a life of meaning is wonderfully shot and acted and accentuated by a thumpingly cool soundtrack. 3.5/5

The Robber - Tells the true story of Johannes Rettenberger, a marathon athlete who developed robbing banks as a hobby. Well shot and acted this is certainly a film that I liked but it'd not one I'd go out of my way to recommend. It has it's moments and the constrained acting of the main character, not to mention all the running he does, works quite well but there's nothing that really makes this film stand out. 2.5/5

Wild Target - bloody funny UK remake of a French comedy where a consummately professional hitman's life is turned upside down when he can't finish a job to kill a wild and beautiful woman, his life is even more complicated when a young man gets involved. Good acting, pretty good script, implausibly funny. 3/5

Rabbit a la Berlin & Nenette - two of the worst "docos" about animals (or even anything) I have ever seen. Neither have anything remotely good about them. 0.1/5 & 0.05/5

The Killer Inside Me - absolutely brutal film about a psychopath Sheriff's Deputy bashing several women to death and murdering some men as well. Still not sure if I liked this film or not, the scenes of abuse are really very full on. 2.5/5

The Strange Case of Angelica - left after 30 minutes, it was just dumb and going nowhere. 1/5

Taqwacore - pretty cool doco about the Islamic Punk movement in America, some interesting characters in a fairly well made doco shell, the scenes in Pakistan were particularly eye opening. 3/5

Brotherhood - well made, acted and scripted story of two Danish neo-Nazi guys falling in love with each other and how their feelings clash with their beliefs. Didn't end on a massive downer like I thought it would, I really quite liked this film, it had a lot to say and said it well and without being too "in your face" about it. 4/5

The Wedding Party - your rather standard Aussie ensemble rom com with plenty of drama added in. Good for a laugh but not all that memorable and an ending that leaves a lot of loose ends. 2.5/5

1981 - rather amusing tale of a French Canadian kid of Italian background who learns that his lying ways may be causing a lot more harm to his family and friends than he thinks. 3/5

Kosmos - I gave up halfway through, it was just going nowhere and making no sense at all. 1/5

World On A Wire - was falling asleep and so left after an hour into this German sci-fi TV classic. 0.5/5

Dancing Dreams - nice little doco about a bunch of school kids discovering the power of dance. 3/5

La Pivellina - pretty sure it had a rather fluid script but I quite liked this tale of an older circus couple who find an abandoned little girl and how she affects their lives. 3.5/5

Russian Lessons - harrowing doco detailing the hypocrisy and lies of the Russian invasion of Ossetia and how they manipulated the media in astounding ways. Contains some seriously disturbing footage. 4/5

Life During Wartime - yet another weird Todd Solondz film, not as good as Happiness but still has its moments. Was not expecting to see Allison Janney's tits. 3/5

Mammuth - bloody funny French film with Gerard Depardieu at his comedic best, has some bizarre moments, the car scene with Yolande Moreau was priceless, as was the mutual masturbation scene. From the directors of one of my faves from last year "Lousie-Michel" I highly recommend checking this - and Lousie-Michel - out. 3.5/5

I Love You Phillip Morris - bloody funny comedy with Jim Carrey at his over the top best as a gay conman and Ewan McGregor is pitch perfect in the titular role. I wonder how much of it is true, I really hope the final "con" is, bloody brilliant. 3.5/5

Lola - lovely little film where two Grandmothers bear the consequences of a crime involving their respective grandsons. Wonderful acting, a powerful and sad story, loved it. 3.5/5

Strange Birds in Paradise: A West Papuan Story - brilliant doco about the little known fight for independence in this, one of our closest neighbours. I honestly had no idea about any of this and I think this should be a doco shown in schools around Australia - basically they've been as screwed over by Indonesia as Timor Leste ever was, powerful stuff all with a musical undertone/base that works well to carry the narrative forward. 4.5/5

Lebanon - set in 1982 and the first Lebanon war, this technically masterful film is shot - apart from some bookending single shots - entirely inside and from the perspective of a tank that is ordered into Lebanon. You wouldn't think that it works but it does, and it works wonderfully. Great acting, a tight and taught story with some very good effect work, it's a claustrophobic and sometimes gut wrenching ride through the streets of Lebanon. 4/5

Gremlins - was great to see this classic in a cinema with a cheering and yelling appreciative audience. I forgot just how damn funny this movie is. 4.5/5

Catfish -not brilliantly made but fascinating all the same, this doco explores just how well you can know someone you meet across the internet. The end was actually, although expected, still quite sad and at times rather disturbing. 3.5/5

The Hunter - understated film about a man taking the law into his own hands when his wife and daughter are killed during a shootout between militants and police in Iran. Don't read the IMDB summary as it gives too much away for no reason. Not sure why but I really liked this film about a man pushed to the edge by circumstance and his own sense of powerlessness. 4/5

When You're Strange - brilliant doco detailing the history of The Doors with, of course, a real focus on Jim Morrison. Wonderfully narrated by Johnny Depp and, thankfully, featuring not a single modern interview, this is all about the archival footage from the time and telling their story as it happened, warts and all. 3.5/5

The Actresses - at MIFF, I'll see a film in the guide that sounds vaguely OK, maybe it won an award here or there or was even only nominated, apart from that I'll know nothing about it and only pick it 'cause there was nothing else on at the time that was more interesting. That's what happened with last year's "Still Walking", a Japanese film of the day in the life of a family, where it sounds kinda dull but turns out to be my favourite film of the festival (and quite possibly of all time). This year I had to wait until the second last day of the festival to get my "Quintessential MIFF" moment.

The Actresses doesn't sound like much, here's the MIFF write-up:

There are three kinds of people in the world – men, women and actresses.

Six ravishingly beautiful Korean movie stars make light of their professional personae in this witty, tongue-in-cheek mockumentary.

Coming together for a Vogue Magazine photo shoot, each actress – Youn Yuh-jung (Hahaha, also showing in this year’s program), Lee Mi-sook (An Affair), Choi Ji-woo (Now and Forever), Ko Hyun-jung (Woman on the Beach), Kim Min-hee (Hellcats) and Kim Ok-vin (Thirst) – must try sharing a spotlight ordinarily reserved for themselves alone.

Despite being fully scripted, The Actresses exudes an ad-libbed aesthetic; director E J-yong (Untold Scandal) filmed many of the scenes using six hidden HD cameras simultaneously, and instructing his leading ladies to act as if they were in a theatre play.

For some reason it instantly clicked with me and I was in total heaven from start to finish. One small scene maybe went a little longer than it really had to, but it actually didn't matter at all. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Two friends who were in the same session both didn't like it at all but I guess that's the great thing about film, it is just so bloody subjective. 5/5

Dream Home - a woman goes psycho and murders a bunch of people as she is obsessed with buying her dream apartment. Has some great little twists and turns in the plot, especially revelations about why she's doing what she's doing, and has some very funny gore moments. 3/5

Monsters - I applaud the fact this really nice looking film was made on a shoestring budget, but when the title of the film is "Monsters" and write-ups and trailers give you the impressions you're gonna get some giant aliens stomping all over Mexico wreaking havoc and instead you get a 97 minute film where 91 minutes do not feature the titular "Monsters" then I'm sorry, but you just plain suck. 1.5/5

Teenage Paparazzo - interesting but far too self-indulgent doco by Adrian Grenier, exploring the life of celebrity through the lens of a young boy obsessed with getting the next shot. Was actually quite disturbing. 2/5

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World - coolest geek film ever, definitely not for everyone but it was a laugh a minute for me, with young Culkin almost stealing the movie from the main stars. Features a great cameo from Thomas Jane as a member of the Vegan Police. 5/5

END OF MIFF 2010

Lucky Number Slevin (aka The Wrong Man) - a pretty stellar cast helps this whodunnit action thriller gangster type film but doesn't save it completely. The story was nice and convoluted, the acting all quite good, but the "twist" was obvious from the start (though I did think Lucy Liu's character had more to her than was shown, so I was wrong there) and making it obvious from the start kinda dulled the film a bit. Still, it was a fun romp. 3/5

The Wolfman - dumb boring gory idiocy. 1/5

Collapse - he's a total nut-job, but damn what the man has to say about the collapse of oil-based Western society is really starting to hit home. See this in conjunction with The Oil Crash and you'll feel like running for the hills. 4/5

Paradise Lost - The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills - a very poorly made doco but oh so damn scary, not just because three apparently innocent boys are accused of the murders of 3 definitely innocent young children, but most because of the absolute conviction and scarily uneducated and rampant fundamentalist Christan beliefs that could exist in modern America, yeah even in the bible belt - I had no idea that people could just be so... I dunno, scarily swayed by their beliefs even if I do see it on the news every day. 3/5 *Warning, you see the murdered boys' bodies at the beginning of the movie, definitely not for the faint of heart

Inception - yeah ok, it was well made, well acted (for the most part) and I love the score. I just think the story was too linear and had plot holes and gaps where they didn't need to be. Supporters can say "well that's 'cause it was a dream and there are leaps in logic in dreams" but I don't care, I think it was lazy script writing. 2.5/5

Dear Zachary - A Letter To A Son About His Father - has some very annoying ways of going about telling this true tale of murder but damn, this has got to be one of the saddest stories I have ever heard. Don't read anything about it, just watch it. The only premise I would give you is that a young man is murdered and he has such loving family and friends they make this film to show his son just how wonderful a person he is. 3.5/5

Salt - good, dumb fun. Was easy to see who that bad guy was but that didn't matter. 3/5

Piranha 3D - awesome gory fun, see it drunk and it's even funnier. 3.5/5

Moofies in 2010 - July (42 / 98)

2010-08-19T16:48:00.004+10:00

The Pixar Story - a great doco about the formation of Pixar, the trials and failures of their beginnings, the trust and money that Steve Jobs poured into the business, and then their wonderful successes. Loved it and could easily watch it again, it's all about the business side of animation and really is quite fascinating. 4/5

Paranormal Activity - I really have to applaud the fact it was made for $15k and made millions at the box office (though I doubt the maker and actors saw much of that). Mostly done quite well but frankly I didn't care about the characters in the least and I was ambivalent as to what happened to them. Some pretty chilling scenes and effects through with a couple really cheesy ones. Some idiotic leaps in illogic, but overall good scary fun. 2.5/5

Shutter Island - wonderfully shot and fantastically acted Scorsese psychological drama. I picked the main "twist" from the very beginning but, surprisingly, that didn't actually detract from me enjoying the film at all. I really quite liked the slightly ambiguous ending. 4/5

*The Spongebob Squarepants Movie - idiotically stupid fun. I was hungover and tired and this was perfect for my mood. Not as many laughs as I recall though :( 2.5/5

The End of the Line - yet another scary doco about how the stupidity and greed of humans is destroying a precious and finite resource. I honestly don't think fish stocks will ever recover and I think we're going to see a lot more famine and desolation in the next few decades because of what this doco tells us of what we're doing to our oceans. The doco is slightly more hopeful. 2.5/5 - lost points for some poor directing and editing choices, it could have been shorter and packed more punch.

Blindness - an extremely bleak tale of people coping with a sudden mass onset of blindness with one woman still being able to see. A bit of an allegory on how badly society can break down and even though someone has the power of sight they are only moved to act in great desperation - reacting instead of acting. A brilliant performance by Julianne Moore and I really am starting to dig Mark Ruffalo as an actor. Gael Garcia Bernal was great in his role as well. 3.5/5

Daybreakers - an ambitious vampire movie by the Aussie Spierig brothers that almost works but just doesn't quite find its legs. Had a really great premise where the majority of people have become vampires and Humans have become an increasingly rare food source. Once again it was weird seeing so many Aussie actors act with American accents - when there's one or two it ain't bad, when 90% of the cast are Aussie it's just plain weird. Some pretty good effects, some dodgy ones, and some extremely wooden acting from most involved. 2.5/5

The Men Who Stare At Goats - some truly funny moments and a brilliantly snide turn by Kevin Spacey couldn't save this somewhat pedestrian comedy. Ewan McGregor doesn't quite manage to engage the audience as he tells the tale of Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), one of the US Army's most successful Psy Ops agents. Clooney himself once again proves he can do comedy without sinking to absurdity but it's just not enough to save this film. 1.5/5

Red - Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) is accosted by three teenagers who attempt to rob him and then, cruelly and with no reason, shoot dead his dog Red, the only living link he has to his departed wife. With a burning intensity, he seeks redress from the boys that killed his dog - all he really wants is for them to admit what they did and apologise for it - but he is constantly stymied in his attempts at justice by not only the boys' uncaring father (Tom Sizemore) but also a justice system that considers animals no more than property. With reporter Carrie (Kim Dickens) helping to get his story out into the public, Avery's quest for justice starts to spiral out of control as we see his dogged determination - deeply seated in an horrific event from his past, revealed in a scene of masterfully understated acting on Cox' part - start to spiral out of control. A simple story of a man's search for justice and how one event can twist the lives of many until only tragedy can stop the landslide. 4.5/5

Winter's Bone - was part of MIFF but I got to see an advance screening the week before thanks to ABC 774. It's a rather bleak tale of a young woman in search of her drug dealing and drug addicted missing father without whom she and her dirt-poor family are likely to lose their home. Well acted but shot so bleakly and with an extremely grey colour palette, this is really quite a depressing film. Even so, I still quite enjoyed it. 3/5

Repo Men - over the top sci-fi gore-fest with Jude Law going from a psycho serial killer with a licence to kill as he repossesses artificial organs where the owners are late on their payments to one of the victims themselves. It's over the top, silly and great fun. For once the ending surprised me, I really wasn't expecting it but it was just so perfectly appropriate for this film and where it was headed. Features the sexiest self-surgery/butchery scene in film history. 3.5/5

Creation - I went into this free screening of the tale of Charles Darwin and how he had a crisis of conscience whilst writing "On the Origin of Species" really not wanting to see the film and thinking I'd be dead bored. Instead I was mesmerised from the very beginning mostly due to Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly's absolutely stellar performances as Darwin and his wife. The tale has elements of tragedy in it which are handled perfectly by cutting up the timeline (notably with no visual clue beyond the actions/look of the main characters, an affectation I absolutely loved - it never needs to be obvious and is easy to follow) and truly by the end I was almost brought to tears by Darwin's self recrimination and self loathing. It's an almost perfect film let down by occasionally poor edits and running ever so slightly too long. 4.5/5

START OF MIFF 2010

Mai Mai Miracle (Japan) - young Shinko befriends new girl Kiiko, they spend their days running through the wheat fields imagining what life was like in the area 1000 years ago with real life constantly imposing itself on their daydreams, they can't always avoid the harsh realities of things they don't quite understand. A lovely little anime with some interesting themes about death, loss and how lives can change. Has a number of quite funny moments and some really touching ones too. 2.5/5

Osadné (Czech Republic/Slovakia) - a quirky little doco focusing on the Slovak village of Osadné, where the local priest has, in the past five years, buried 50 residents and baptised only two - the young people are moving away in droves and the town, and the resident native Rusyn population, is dying. Ha some quite amusing characters whom we follow as they work hard to think of ideas to attract tourists to their little slice of heaven in the middle of nowhere. 3/5

Cities on Speed - Shanghai & Mumbai - two interesting docos about the changes coming to these megalopolis cities. The Mumbai one was quite amusing as ti focused on people from 3 different levels of society with regards to transportation.3/5 & 4/5

Air Doll - quirky Japanese film where a man's sex toy comes to life and wanders out into the world to discover what it means to be human. Interesting premise with some genuinely funny moments and a reasonably disturbing conclusion. 3.5/5

Red Hill - predictable but still fun Aussie revenge thriller set in a little country town. Over the top performance by Steve Bisley gives it that great tongue-in-cheek nod while Ryan Kwanten acquits himself well as the main protagonist. 3.5/5

World's Greatest Dad - Robin Williams stars in this very black comedy about a high school teacher trying to deal with his delinquent son whilst trying to write the next great American novel and keep his new relationship with a fellow teacher intact. Didn't end on the dark note I was hoping for but was dark enough I suppose. 3.5/5

1428 - extremely poorly made "doco" showing the aftermath of the 2008 China earthquake. Fascinating subject, appallingly made doco, I walked out 3/4 through. 0.5/5

City of Life and Death - brilliant black and white film about the Rape of Nanking as seen from the invaded Chinese soldiers and civilians and a select few of the Japanese soldiers. Features some truly disturbing moments, though I suspect much worse occurred, and some great and understated performances. 4.5/5

The Housemaid - interesting premise but it unfortunately ultimately pulls its punches a little. I was hoping for a bit more oomph but was still an interesting film with some high standard performances. 3/5

Love in a Puff - rather amusing but somewhat stilted romantic comedy about people meeting on their smoko breaks. 3/5

Rubber - one of the most bizarre films I've ever seen - an old rubber tire goes on a psychic killing rampage whilst an audience watches. Achieves what it aims for which is a lot of laughs and a major WTF was the point of that? 3.5/5

Poetry - beautifully shot, scripted and acted film about an old Korean grandmother looking after her grandson. She is trying to rediscover the poetry in her life whilst also dealing with the horrendous actions of her son and his friends. One of the best ending to a film in years. 4.5/5

The Red Chapel - piss funny doco about a coupe of South Korean born Danish comedians (one a spastic) being allowed into North Korea to perform a comedy routine. Hi-jinks soon ensue when the straight laced Korean minders step in to try and change the performance more to their liking. Darkly satirical and often crazy in what they get away with, it also had a sadness to it that they really explore in the film. 4/5

The Tree - bit of a ho-hum Aussie/French film about a girl who thinks her dead father lives on in the giant tree next to their proerty. Has a pretty good turn by Martin Csokas but I just can not like Charlotte Gainsbourg and was constantly unsympathetic to her character. The kids were all pretty good. 2.5/5

Garbo: The Spy - fascinating doco (although a little too long and with a really cool but strange soundtrack) about the guy that pretty much started the end of WW2 by becoming a double agent for the British - through him the Nazis pretty much funded the British intelligence service! Absolutely amazing that this could happen, truth really is far stranger than fiction. 4/5

The Messenger - heartfelt and realistic film focusing on two soldiers tasked with the awful task of delivering news of a soldier's death to their loved ones. A brilliant turn by Woody Harrelson and a damn good one by Ben Foster turn what could have been a very maudlin weeper into a strong and uncompromising look at an often overlooked aspect of war. 4.5/5

Border - walked out 15 minutes in - I'm not gonna spend an hour and a half watching a water buffalo do nothing. 0/5

Apart Together - wasn't sure what to expect but came to really enjoy this quirky film about a man returning to Shanghai to see his wife and family after being forced to live in Taiwan for many years for political reasons. Has a real heart to it and captures the love held between the main characters perfectly. 4/5

The Day Will Come - Alice tracks down her mother who abandoned her daughter when she went into hiding with a German terrorist group. The mother has a new family now but Alice wants her to give herself up and admit to all her past misdeeds. Interesting story, executed well with some fine performances. 3.5/5

The Special Relationship - fantastic film about the relationship between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair during the former's sex scandals being aired and the Balkan war. Brilliantly acted - Dennis Quaid is startlingly spot on as Clinton, with a great script and wonderful direction. 4.5/5

The Kids Are All Right - funny drama about the children of two lesbian parents wanting to find out about their sperm donor father, only bringing him into their life might nto be the best idea ever. Has some brilliant laughs and a real heart its core with great performances all round. 4/5

[b]Boy[/b] - an absolutely hilarious NZ film about a young boy in the 80s who thinks his absent father is away on amazing adventures, only to find out his dad was in jail and upon his return isn't all he's cracked up to be. Laugh-a-minute kinda film with an hilarious performance by writer/director Taika Waititi as the father. Seriously go and see this film as soon as you can. 5/5

The Unloved - sad tale of an abused young girl as she gets processed through the welfare system after one too many hits from her dad. A bit of an autobiography from Emily Mortimer there are some good performances here, and it's not as depressing as it sounds, but some of the direction just left me a little cold. Still, it's a good film. 3/5

The Trotsky - quite a funny Canadian film about a young man who thinks he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky, he tries to unionise his school and so comes into conflict with the school Principal and Board. Probably the funniest thing Jay Baruchel has been in, I certainly laughed a number of times, but the script just seemed to jump around too much to be a smooth experience. 3/5

Four Lions - I was expecting a lot of laughs from this black comedy about UK Muslin extremists, and I got them, but it just didn't have the kind of appeal I was looking for - I think it's another case of the best jokes going into the trailer. The end really was quite disturbing and sad. 3/5

Cities on Speed - Bogota & Cairo - more insight into the way other major cities of the world work. The Cairo one was dead boring (being all about garbage) but the Bogota one was absolutely fascinating. Seriously see this doco and see how one or two men wanting social change can enact it if they just push hard enough. 4.5/5 and 0/5/5 respectively.

Piggies - disturbing little film about young Polish kids on the German border going into the sex trade to earn cash. All non-actors perform admirably in their roles and the script was solid. 3.5/5

Paju - confusing Korean film that I gave 30 minutes and then left, I was drunk at the time but really it made no sense at all. 0/5

Doco Shorts - some good docos, some bad ones, some very average ones.

Accelerator 1 - some great short films, some bad ones, some average ones.

Moofies in 2010 - June (14 / 56)

2010-08-19T16:44:00.002+10:00

Mother & Child - really great drama with some fantastic acting by Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington. Focuses on mothers and the relationship they have with their child, Annette Bening's prickly and unlikeable character and the act of giving her child up for adoption that has so tainted the rest of her life was such a powerful story to watch. Bening was just pure perfection in it. Wrapped up a [i]little[/i] too neatly but I guess that's kinda where it was "supposed" to head anyway. Will make every mother out there cry (even I teared up a little), guaranteed. 4.5/5

Traitor - quite an interesting take on the whole terrorism thing, kept me interested the whole way through. 3.5/5

The Number 23 - meh, was just plain silly really. 1/5

Pathfinder - interesting premise - Vikings attacking Native Americans (or Canadians) and a Viking child grows up to be a warrior for the Indians - but poorly executed. 2/5

I Sell The Dead - rather amusing but not brilliant story about some 18th century grave robbers who end up getting into the lucrative undead market. Some genuinely funny parts, especially the sci-fi grave. 2.5/5

Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time - good, dumb fun with an obvious story, frenetic action, silly romance and good comedic relief. 2.5/5

City Island - dead-set funny film about a family of New Yorkers who are all keeping secrets from each other. Genuinely good comedy with a script that is acted to perfection. Doesn't rely on smut or rudeness and I think this is the kind of film that could be genuinely appreciated by all comers. Everyone in the cinema was laughing quite loudly throughout all of the appropriate parts. If you liked Little Miss Sunshine or films of that ilk, you'll love this. 4.5/5
2012 - stupid story, dumb acting, over the top effects and situations, great fun! It was completely idiotic but there's just something I love about watching the world get destroyed. 3/5

She's Out Of My League - rather ho-hum comedy, still not sure if I like Jay Baruchel or not, maybe only as a voice actor. 1.5/5

The Road - bloody depressing and very well acted all the way through. Hillcoat really likes his dark and dreary films eh? 3/5

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief - totally stupid and ridiculous but good, dumb fun. 2.5/5

Green Zone - actually really quite good, it has a relentless pace to it and not over the top use of shaky cam. 4/5

Hot Tub Time Machine - it's stupid from the beginning, it knows it and revels in it, has some seriously funny moment. 3/5

Toy Story 3 - absolute Pixar perfection. Loved it, loved it, loved it! Better than the second, on par with the first but with better animation. Saw it in 3D which was nice but would be just as good in 2D, still not 100% sold on 3D. 5/5

Moofies in 2010 - May (5 / 42)

2010-08-19T16:40:00.002+10:00

Iron Man 2 - a lot of great one liners, the interplay between characters was spot on, but in the end it was quite pedestrian story with minimal action. They're really using this as a vehicle to set up the other Marvel films and the Avengers with more about S.H.I.E.L.D. and nods to Captain America and Thor. Was more of a Tony Stark character study and growth story more than anything. The 30 seconds after the credits was a waste of time and should have been before the credits or maybe just into them. 2.5/5

Harry Brown - Michael Caine brilliantly portrays a sad old pensioner looking forlornly into the last few years of his life who finds renewed anger, vigor and purpose when his best friend is murdered by local thugs and he decides someone needs to stand up and be a man. Although quite violent at times and rather shocking, it's Caine's performance as the titular Harry Brown that just mesmerised me. He gives no justification for his actions, he gives very little reason, he's just a man who decides something needs to be done and then tries to do it.

Also has a great turn from Emily Mortimer as a Detective Inspector with an empathic response to Harry's situation and features a twist that for once I did not see coming - probably 'cause I was just so involved in the film. I have to reiterate how great Caine is, especially in the quiet moments where the camera just focuses on his face and you can see the inner turmoil burning through his eyes. A very dark palette is used with some very murky sets and situations and it suits the film perfectly. 5/5

The Girl Who Played With Fire - second in the Millenium Trilogy. Meh it was OK, a bit contrived in parts but pretty good. I'll check out the third but it doesn't make me want to read the books despite all the great praise they have garnered. 2.5/5

*Star Trek - came home drunk from the pub and my housemate had just started watching it so figured it was worth yet another re-watch. It's still a great, fun flim with some plot developments that are just plain stupid (the whole Old Spock thing and really the villain in general) but whatevs.

The Darjeeling Limited - weird and wacky and really not my kind of flim. I watched it 'cause my sister wanted to but if she hadn't been there I'd have switched it off half way through. I'm really not that much of a fan of Wes Anderson's films though I do still want to see Fantastic Mr Fox. 1/5

Moofies in 2010 - April (2 / 37

2010-08-19T16:39:00.001+10:00

The Invention of Lying - was mildly amusing in parts but it irked me that just because you can't lie it doesn't mean you need to tell everyone exactly what you think or are doing. DVD extras and outtakes were funnier than the film. 1/5

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - a pretty good murder mystery and I'll certainly be checking out the sequels. There were a few skips or jumps in logic and the story that irked me but basically it's a very entertaining film. Has 2 quite rough rape scenes so you wanna be careful going in. 3/5

Moofies in 2010 - March (11 / 35)

2010-08-19T16:33:00.002+10:00

*The Mothman Prophecies - one of my favourites for a supernatural freaky film. 4/5

Bastardy - interesting doco, he has certainly lived a hell of a life. 3/5

*The Hurt Locker - confirmation that it deserved the Best Picture Oscar and I still liked it the second time around. 4.5/5

C.R.A.Z.Y. - quite a good film but not quite great. Some good performances. 3/5

Planet 51 - so-so which is a shame as I was looking forward to it. A few good jokes but overall far too predictable. 2/5

Tooth Fairy - actually quite enjoyed it, The Rock is a legend. 3.5/5

Zombieland - watched it again with housemate, still just as funny and main chick still just as gorgeous.

The Eclipse - such a weird mix of romance, comedy, supernatural/ghosts and sadness but strangely it really works. Some really good performances (who knew Aidan Quinn could be such a dick?) and a very understated but lyrical directing style with pitch perfect cinematography of a dreary but beautiful Irish seaside town. 4/5

How To Train Your Dragon - a predictable storyline doesn't detract from this well paces and funny romp from Dreamworks animation. I'd say on par with Kung-fu Panda. The 3D aspect was good but I'm still not sold on it as something that truly adds to a film experience - it is what it is. Only qualm was the fact the adults were all Scottish and the kids were all American, I thought they could have put something funny in there along the lines of you only gain your accent when you kill your first dragon or something, but it was a very minor point. One or two slightly scary bits for he very small kids but otherwise it's a total larf and good fun. 4.5/5

*Signs - caught it on TV the other night and I still really enjoyed it despite this being viewing number 8 or so. One of Shyamalan's better films with a great premise, good acting and some really freaky moments. I know the water thing is a little dumb but whatever, I still like it. 4/5

Welcome - Bilal is an Iraqi refugee in France trying to make his way to his girlfriend in the UK, Simon is a local who takes pity on the boy and starts training him to swim the English channel. A rather sweet and quiet film, I really enjoyed it. The minimalism in the acting was spot on and the film ended the way it should have ended (thank Christ they didn't go too mushy). 4/5

Moofies in 2010 - February (7 / 24)

2010-08-19T16:29:00.002+10:00

Fish! A Japanese Obsession where a UK guy traveled all around Japan for 6 weeks exploring all aspects that the Japanese have with seafood and with sea life. It really was quite interesting to see all the aspects of it and how pervasive a food stuff is within the history of a culture. He even went to Taiji and ate whale meat and although he was against the idea of whaling, he wasn't all preachy about it - he showed that this was part of their culture and how the pressure from the rest of the world was making these basic fishermen seem like monsters.

Anyway, great doco and I highly recommend it. 4/5

I Heart Huckabees - I gave up after 30 minutes, couldn't stand Jason Schwartzman's character. 0/5

*Avatar - saw it at IMAX, no real difference between that and the normal big screen.

*Return of the Jedi - wow, I forgot just how clunky it is, ah well, was still good fun. 2.5/5

Julie & Julia - brilliant turn by Meryl Streep and good performance by Stanley Tucci. Good, fun film. 3.5/5

Fighting - quite dull and predictable, I can't stand Terrence Howard's mumbling. 1/5

*Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - fun but not brilliant. 3/5

Final Reading List For 2009

2010-02-02T15:21:00.003+11:00

Was a pretty good year for reading with Erikson releasing the stunning Dust Of Dreams and I started the really fun Shadows of the Apt series. Chelsea Cain came close to a major disappointment mainly due to the unthinkably stupid ending to her second Gretchen Lowell novel.

01. Richard Morgan - Black Man (A)
02. Paul Carter - Don't Tell Mum I Work On The Oil Rigs She Thinks I'm A Piano Player In A Whore House (B-)
03. John Lindqvist - Let The Right One In (A+)
04. Michael Capuzzo - Close to Shore (C+)
05. Hugh Cook - The Wizards and the Warriors (Chronicles of an Age of Darkness 1) (B)
06. Hugh Cook - The Wordsmiths and the Warguild (Chronicles of an Age of Darkness 2) (B-)
07. Greg Keyes - The Charnel Prince (Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone 2) (B+)
08. Greg Keyes - The Blood Knight (Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone 3) (B+)
09. Raymond E Feist - Rides A Dread Legion (Demonwar Saga 1) (B)
10. Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination (B)
11. Brent Weeks - The Way of Shadows (Night Angel Trilogy 1) (B+)
12. Greg Keyes - The Born Queen (Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone 4) (B-)
13. David Gunn - Death's Head: Maximum Offence (Sven Tveskoeg 2) (A-)
14. Brian Aldiss - Non-Stop (A-)
15. Joe Abercrombie - Best Served Cold (A+)
16. Brent Weeks - Shadow's Edge (Night Angel Trilogy 2) (A-)
17. Brent Weeks - Way of Shadows (Night Angel Trilogy 3) (B+)
18. Peter Kocan - The Treatment and The Cure (A+)
19. Fritz Leiber - Ill Met In Lankhmar (B+)
20. Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book (A-)
21. Hugh Cook - The Women and the Warlords (Chronicles of an Age of Darkness 3) (B-)
22. Adrian Tchaikovsky - Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt 1) (A-)
23. Adrian Tchaikovsky - Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt 2) (A-)
24. Steven Erikson - Dust of Dreams (Malazan 9) (A+++)
25. Adrian Tchaikovsky - Blood of the Mantis (Shadows of the Apt 3) (A)
26. John Scalzi - Zoe's Tale (A)
27. Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals (Discworld 37) (B+)
28. Ken Grimwood - Replay (A)
29. Chelsea Cain - Sweetheart (C+)
30. Peter F Hamilton - A Second Chance At Eden (B+)
31. Ursula K Le Guin - The Dispossessed (A-)

Moofies in 2010 - January (17 / 17)

2010-02-02T15:02:00.005+11:00

Attempted to watch In The Name of the King - A Dungeon Siege Tale - and gave up an hour into it. It was absolutely awful but I was hoping so awful it was good, but that was not to be. I was just amazed that so many known actors would actually go for this tripe - the production values were quite high but the acting and script were just appalling. 0.1/5 (for some OK CGI and costumes)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - meh, so-so. 1.5/5

Funny People - actually rather engaging and interesting. 3.5/5

Zombieland - absolutely FREAKIN' HILARIOUS!!! 5/5

Bottle Shock - good fun if predictable drama about a father and son trying to produce quality wine in Claifornia in the late 70s and a British wine snob who wnats to pit the US against the Frenchies to get on the good side of the Frenchies, little does he know... Exceptionally good performances from Bill Pullman and Freddie Rodriguez. 4/5

The Soloist - Robert Downey Jr plays a reporter who discovers a Julliard trained cellist who lives on the streets of LA battling with his schizophrenia. Actually quite good in the end with a real pathos given to the story by RDJ's great mumble/off the cuff acting style. 3.5/5

Sherlock Holmes - good fun with Downey saving what could have been a very dull flim. His banter with Jude Law worked wonderfully and apart from some very dreary greyness the film looked great as well. 3/5

The Blind Side - meh, it was OK. Really dunno why people are going all crazy over it. It was an interesting story but ultimately rather pedestrian. 2.5/5

Punisher War Zone - ultra violent, average story line, but lots f good fun at the same time. Shame no Thomas Jane as Frank Castle but at least there was no John Travolta. 2.5/5

I Love You Beth Cooper - average teen comedy that had a few laughs but was nothing special. Did get to see Hayden Paniterre side boob, so extra half point for that. 1.5/5

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies - rather dull and short cartoon with a fairly pedestrian story and some middling animation. 1/5

Angels & Demons - I haven't seen The Davinci Code or read any of the books but this was easy to jump into and had quite an interesting story to it. I figured out who was the bad guy pretty early on (the Red Herrings were just way too obvious) but it was still an interesting and fun ride. 3/5

Into The Wild - fascinating tale about a guy who, really, was totally nuts. Obviously some was overly dramatised but it worked quite well. A standout performance from Emile Hirsch and features the always luminous Catherine Keener. 4/5

Gone Baby Gone - sad and interesting tale, well directed by Ben Affleck and with Casey Affleck really proving his acting chops. 4/5

*A.I. - Artificial Intelligence - the effects stand up really well, the story is interesting and the acting by Frances O'Connor and Haley Joel Osment was quite great. The ending is a bit hit and miss with some people but I've always liked it. 3.5/5

Lions For Lambs - I like films that have multiple story lines like this one but there was just something missing from this. Robert Redford seemed a little too preachy maybe, but the scenes with Cruise and Streep worked perfectly. 3/5

In The Valley Of Elah - Tommy Lee Jones is just marvelous in what turns out to be a very sad and depressing story. His controlled fury mixed with soul destroying sadness is just perfect. Sarandon's relatively small role was also played to perfection. Not the happiest of films but certainly a good one. 4.5/5

PROJECT 365: 190 - 209

2010-02-02T14:51:00.002+11:00

Only made it to 209, ah well, shit happens.

190. Capitalism: A Love Story - typical Michael Moore fare where a lot of it is about himself rather than the problem at large. This is a lot more personal than Farenheit 9/11 or even Sicko and I think it weakens what could ahve otherwise been a very powerful film. Nonetheless it's quite entertaining whilst still delivering an important message, although he really does bang on the drum of "Capitalism is evil" a little too hard. 2.5/5

191. New World Order - absolutely pathetic pile of crap supposedly documenting the NWO that controls the world. In reality it's a half dozen absolute nut jobs spouting lies and filth about the most inane things with not a single "fact" even explored for accuracy - they just spout it off as truth and expect you to believe. Actually fascinating to watc in a way but still quite ridiculous, I fast forwarded the last 45 minutes or so. -50/5

192. The Answer Man - a quirky rom com about a reclusive author (Jeff Daniels) who wrote a book where he was in conversation with God and received all the answers to the big questions, it became a sensation and he fled all publicity. 20 years later he's a crotchety old dude trying to become one with the universe and not quite succeeding. Not your typical romantic comedy and for this I reason I quite liked it. Good performances and a relatively tight script, and although it goes into cliched areas it does it well enough that it's n0t a problem. Good Sunday arvo flick. 3.5/5

193. The Thaw (aka Frozen) - great idea, poorly executed and atrociously acted yet it still has an interesting take on what it could take for Humanity to finally wake up and smell the rotting mammoth. Quite ridiculous but amusing nonetheless. 1.5/5

194. *Moon - watched it again as made the housemate watch it and the ending didn't piss me off as much as the first time. Still an awesome film.

195. *Kill Bill (Vol. 2) - great film, better than the first, loved the confrontation with Bill at the end. 4/5

196. Pandorum - gave up a third through, truly awful film that had me angry after 5 minutes. DETESTED IT. -10/5.

197. The Informant - rather funny film where Matt Damon gets to really shine as a corporate whistle blower - but is he telling the entire truth? Fantastic music throughout and some real guffaws. 3.5/5

198. The Taking of Pelham 123 - I haven't seen the original but this was good, dumb, fun. 3/5

199. Where The Wild Things Are - I'd been waiting for over 2 years to see this film and apart from some minor soundtrack quibbles (I am not a Karen Oh fan) I absolutely loved it. 5/5

200. 9 - beautiful animation, great voice cast, intriguing story, quite a good script, I'd say this is one of the top animated films of 2009. 4/5

201. Up In The Air - George Clooney is great in the lead and for once Jason Bateman doesn't go over the top. The real stand outs are the two female leads with Vera Farmiga looking absolutely stunning (and she can act to boot!). Slightly depressing film but well worth it. 4.5/5

202. Avatar - stunning visuals, pedestrian but not boring story line, quite good acting. Cameron's restrained use of 3D (nothing charges out of the screen at you, it is used to give the visuals an added depth) is a big plus. 4.5/5

203. Downloading Nancy - 3 stunning performances - especially, I thought, from Rufus Sewell - give what could have otherwise been a sadistic torture-porn film a real edge and quality that was refreshing. When a woman can't stand to live her life and be in the body that has been damaged by past traumas, can she find some stranger to help her end her suffering? Based on an extremely sad but true event in the US, I was mesmerised from start to finish. Can be difficult to watch but worth it. 4.75/5

204. Ils (Them) - French thriller done quite intelligently and using suspense to great effect - almost no blood and guts, it's all about being scared out of your mind by strangers invading your home. Chilling ending as well. 3.5/5

205. Wyvern - SciFi channel schlock film that was so stupid it was fun. An Alaskan town is being attacked by a prehistoric Wyvern. It doesn't beat around the bush but gets straight into the silliness and gore, a great over-the-top performance by Don S. Davis in one of his last roles also has a simply hysterical exposition on the origin of the Wyvern. 3/5

206. The French Kissers - rather amusing French film about a group of young teenagers just discovering girls and wondering what it'd be like to pash on with them. Is genuinely funny in many places with a few "blink and you'll miss it" moments (I was the only person in the very small cinema who laughed out loud to the Rocco Siffredi joke). Some of the dead pan humour was great. 3.5/5

207. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - a young girl suddenly finds that she can leap back in time to change the outcome of her various actions only to discover that the more she tries to change things or set thing right, the worse she is making everyone's lives around her. I had no idea I'd love this film as much as I did as I am not a huge anime fan but the humour and gentle beauty of this story just grabbed me from go to woe. Has some very very funny moments and a heart warming tale at its core helped along by some great animation. 4.75/5

208. Surrogates - typical Hollywood schlock that was still reasonably entertaining, thankfully quite short though - I get the feeling a lot of stuff was cut. 2/5

209. *Fight Club - watched it on Austar on the big screen at my folks' place at Christmas. Such a great, great film 5/5.

And so that was it. Didn't quite make the 365 but had fun trying, now I'll just watch films as often as I can... Just as I have for all previous years anyway!

PROJECT 365: 183 - 189

2009-10-30T15:28:00.000+11:00

183. 5 Centimetres Per Second - a wonderfully animated Japanese Anime set in 3 stories about a guy who falls for a girl but is not sure if his feelings are reciprocated. Supposed to be all about some kind of Japanese classic cultural ideal of imperfect love, to me it just sounded like a whiny punk who was a bit of a wanker. Animation and the absolutely fantastic song at the end made it very watchable but the story and the way that most fo it is through voiceovers and letter reading was just awful. I guess you have to be Japanese to like that kind of thing, that or a whiny bitch. 2.5/5

184. Freedom Writers - there's something about Hilary Swank where I just can't decide if I find her attractive or not, that aside this is your typical "teacher rescues ghetto kids from their slum lives" type story but because it is actually based on real events it's slightly more entertaining than films like [i]Dangerous Minds[/i]. It kept me watching and only had a few roll-my-eyes moments. 3/5

185. Battlestar Galactica - The Plan - a final return to the BSG series where we get to see just what the Cylons and some of the Final Five were doing during the attack on the 12 colonies and how the evolved and survived. Interesting and with some great acting by Dean Stockwell it was a nice trip back into this series but all too short. There was also a bit of nudity which was good but the zoom in to the dude's dick was just plain weird, though rather amusing. 3.5/5

186. *Food, Inc. - housemate was watching this so I re-watched it with her. Some damn scary stuff and I really do hope that Australia is not going down this same path.

187. The Proposal - pretty much your average rom com with some ok performances. Not the best, not the worst, was watchable though very predictable. 2.5/5

188. Objectified - an interesting doco about the world of design and about the thought processes that go into even everyday products like garden shears or a vegetable peeler. Quite fascinating in places but a little disjointed in execution. 2/5

189. The Brothers Bloom - an absolutely fantastic caper/con film with great performances by Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody and especially Mark Ruffalo and an hilariously enigmatic Rinko Kikuchi. Off beat with some absolutely stunning sets and locations, gorgeous costumes right out of the early 1900s but worn in the modern world, and some dead-set funny deadpan humour; this film has everything I could want in a caper comedy with heart except ir did contain some poor editing - though that could have just been the print we saw. If you want some belly laughs while trying to think about who is conning who then go see this film. Absolutely loved it. 5/5

PROJECT 365: 177 - 182

2009-10-20T14:55:00.001+11:00

177. The Hangover - was quite funny but not as great as everyone led me to believe. I really enjoyed the photos during the credits with the cameos in them. 3/5

178. I Love You, Man - surprisingly poignant and heartwarming, this comedy really made me empathise with the main character's quest for male companionship. It didn't go for cheap physical comedy or gross-out stuff (apart from the dead-set hilarious spew scene) but was actually very intelligent and adult in its treatment of the subject of Mancrush and Bromance. Loved it. 4.5/5

179. Bruno - only a few really cringeworthy moments which is not my kind of humour so it was much better than Borat. Better scripted with some epically hilarious scenes (Gayby OJ, the anti-gay pastors, the UFC-style fight) and I actually quite enjoyed it, I just kept marveling at how balls to the wall brave Cohen can sometimes be. 3.5/5

180. Astro Boy - quite a good take on the classic anime and manga. I enjoyed it quite a lot despite changes to the basic story - they kept the right elements there. Greta animation, good voice acting (though Bill Nighy as Doctor Elefun sounded a little out of place). 3/5

181. Race to Witch Mountain - fun, stupid, idiotic, but it has The Rock so it was awesome. A lot of it made very little sense but that didn't really matter. 2.5/5

182. Brokeback Mountain - finally got around to watching this and it was really such a desperately sad and moving film. If I'd known Anne Hathaway's tits were revealed in it I'd have watched it ages ago. Great performances from Gyllenhall and Ledger as expected (although they were bloody rough with each other weren't they?). What really made this film work were 3 elements - stunning cinematography, and understated yet perfect soundtrack, and the enveloping sadness of the story as a whole. 4.5/5

PROJECT 365: 155 - 176

2009-10-13T10:36:00.001+11:00

155. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - average entry in the franchise. better acting on the behalf of the main 3 characters but still some awkwardness between them. Liked the inclusion of so much humour which was missing a bit from the last two. 3/5

156. *In The Loop - got housemate to watch it so I watched it again. Not as good as the first time around as I knew all the jokes but that didn't really matter, still a great film. 4/5

157. Knowing - ridiculous, badly acted, laughably funny when it isn't supposed to be. I spent the film playing spot the Aussie and spot the Melbourne landmark, plane crash scene was pretty good though. 0.5/5

158. Joint Security Area (JSA) - fantastic film by Park Chan Wook about a South Korean man charged with crossing the border and killing two of his counterparts in a guard station across the Bridge of No Return, however as the investigation continues not all is what it seems. The opening investigation scenes aren't really all that good but the second act of this film is what gives it true cult status and a beautiful heart about friendship and loyalty. Some great performances and a truly sad ending, 4/5.

159. *A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash - rewatched this scary as all Hell doco about how little oil the world has left and how we need to find a viable alternative NOW or our current way of living and thinking will be drastically different very very soon. Think along the lines that your grand children might not ever be able to fly in an aeroplane kind of thing. 4/5

160. Anvil - The Story of Anvil - FANTASTIC doco about a Candaian Metal band that never really quite made it to the big league yet they've stuck around for 30 years or so and still rock hard. Great characters, great story (final scene was just priceless) and a very pleasant film to watch. Gonna see them play at Soundwave early 2010. 4/5

161. *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - was on TV so decided to watch it. Quite boring the second time around - some of it just wouldn't make any sense if you hadn't read the books. 2.5/5

162. *Matrix Reloaded - the sequel we just did NOT need to have. Beginning of the end for a film franchise that should have just stuck with the original. Some really bad effects along with some quite good ones, poor acting, poor story. Another exercise in spot the Aussie. 1.5/5

163. 17 Again - surprisingly funny in parts but still uses all the classic cliches that you'd expect. It'd be interesting to see if Efron could pull off a seriously dramatic role and not always just play teenagers. 1.5/5

164. The Burrowers - low budget US horror film set in the Old West that just does not live up to its potential and int he end is rather annoying. 1/5

165. (500) Days of Summer - went to a free screening last night and I gotta say this film has it all - good humour, great acting, smart script, perfect soundtrack, great story that jumps around a lot which actually helps the story flow better, and a nice twist on the traditional rom-com. Perfect film - 5/5

166. *The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - it was on TV on a Friday night, I even had the extended version in my drawer but couldn't be bothered getting up off the couch. Still a fantastic movie that makes the book come alive even more than when reading it. 4.5/5

167. Push - had free tickets to see this, took my friend Jane along last night and there was just one other guy in the cinema. I wasn't expecting anything much as I'd heard it had very bad reviews but in the end it was just a fun sci-fi romp where you didn't really have to think too much about anything. Not great, not total shite, bit of fun. 2/5

168. *Back to the Future II - absolute classic, love every minute of it especially the dual scenes from the first film that are done so well at the end of this one. 4.5/5

169. *Back to the Future III - great ending to the trilogy but not as good as the first two. 3/5

170. Up (3D) - wonderful story, great jokes, perfect animation just not quite as there with previous Pixar efforts but still brilliant. 4/5

171. Year One - dull, boring, crude, crap, maybe 3 or 4 jokes worthy of that label. 1/5

172. *Star Trek - just as good the third time around although the issues with Scotty and a dull Nero still stand out like a very sore thumb. 3.5/5

173. Monsters Vs Aliens - funny, fantastic animation, great story, wonderful voice cast. 4/5

174. Battle For Terra - good voice cast, semi-good animation (the Human Ark ship looked amazing) but in the end a relatively dull story that's been done to death before. Really didn't have enough emotional impact though it did try. 2.5/5

175. G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra - great, dumb, idiotic, stupid, fun that doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. 3/5

176. Terry Pratchett - Living With Alzheimer's - quite poignant and sad (the tie tying scene and the part at the reading really were rather depressing) but overall an upbeat look at a year in the life of Terry as he tried to find out more about this insidious disease and about his quest to stave off the inevitable and to also understand the disease. 4/5.

PROJECT 365: 84 - 154

2009-08-24T13:14:00.003+10:00

Well it doesn't look like I'll make it to 365 moofies in a year but I'll keep trying!

84. My Sister's Keeper - it was OK but too obvious in the attempt to pull the heart strings. 2/5

85. Quantum of Solace - boring, dull, weak excuse to string some action scenes together with a very dull ending. 1/5

86. Last Ride - brilliant Aussie drama with an awesome performance by Hugo Weaving and great work by the kid, Tom Russel. 4/5

START OF MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival)

87. Balibo (Australia) - brilliant film about the 5 young Australian men killed in Timor Leste in 1975 by the invading Indonesian army, interwoven with their story is that of Roger East who went there three weeks later investigating their disappearance witht he aid of Jose Ramos Horta. This is a film that you really must see, it isn't perfect - a little too much shaky cam and some lines are impossible to hear or decipher - but it comes extremely close. The deft touch used to weave the two stories together and the true beauty and tragedy of the country and the story really come through. Was rather emotional at the screening with members of the families of the slain and East Timorese in the crowd bawling their eyes out during the harrowing execution scenes. 4.75/5 - See it.

88. Who's Afraid of the Wolf? (Czechoslovakia) - an interesting little tale of a young girl with a very active imagination who thinks her moher is now an alien after she starts acting strange when an old flame comes back on the scene, an old flame that threatens to break the family apart. Good acting from the child actors, a nice story and actually quite emotional considering the father's story. Also, the mother is STUNNING. 2.5/5

89. The Cove (USA) - well made and rather interesting doco about the yearly slaughter of about 23,000 dolphins migrating past Taiji in Japan and the extreme lengths the doco makers go to to get footage of the actual slaughter. Beyond any kind of moral or financial arguments, the revelation of just how toxic the dolphin meat is was fascinating. Also the fact you can go to a dolphin and whale museum and watch a show while eating the performers was just ludicrously funny. 3.5/5

90. Accelerator 1 Shorts Program (Aus, NZ, Denmark) - a fantastic short film Water that has a massive emotional punch; an hilarious one - Brave Donkey (the dolphin up the arse was rather poetic after just watching The Cove); a couple of rather funny ones - Happy Country & Two Men; a so-so one - Cathrine; quite interesting character observation - Lessons From Last Night; and a piece of sh*t, vomit-worthy pile of diarrhea - Side by Side. Highly recommend Water and Brave Donkey.

91. Like You Know It All (Korea) - a really weird film about a film director attending a film festival and later a college lecture and basically him screwing up. It just didn't really seem to have any point to it and was more a mish mash of ideas and long single shot scenes. Could have been an hour shorter and much more enjoyable. 1.5/5

92. Thirst (Korea) - Park Chan-Wook's absolutely piss funny take on the Vampire genre, the fact it's played straight edge just makes it that much funnier which is the point I guess. Just go see it, you'll love it. 4.5/5

93. Kimjongilia - featuring testimonies from escapees from the Kim reign of terror in North Korea, it's hard to believe that millions starved to death in the 90's and that hundreds of thousands of "political prisoners" live in forced labour camps, many are even born in them. Although poorly made with extreme close ups of the interview subjects, far too much vision of NK propaganda and not enough of actual events and suffering in NK, it still has quite a powerful message. 2/5

94. Accelerator 2 - some great shorts with the stand outs being One Night, The Boxer and The Cat Piano, there are some truly great up and coming Aussie directors.

95. Animation Shorts (Draw Me a Story) - relatively dull session livened up by the final short The Chainsaw Maid where claymation zombies are halted in their rampage by a Korean chambermaid.

96. Prime Mover - Aussie film following a young man whose dream is to be an owner/driver with his rig travelling all over Australia. Well acted, directed and written it's still quite a predictable story of boy has dream, boy meets girl, boy screws up dream, boy loses girl, boy saves his own skin and wins the girl back. You could see the whole story from a mile off about 15 minutes in. Nice performance by Ben Mendelsohn as a drug dealing loan shark. 2.5/5

97. Martyrs - absolutely bizarre yet rather interesting French torture porn film. Kinda like Hostel but it's mad from start to end and actually has a story (and no Americans!). Worth seeing on the big screen but in the end just didn't captivate me despite it being quite well acted and having a few surprises story-wise. 2.5/5

98. Yakuza Eiga - doco about the history of Japanese Yakuza cinema and the relationship between the actual Yakuza and the film studios. It was interesting but was just a typical "paint by the numbers" type of doco, kind of join the dots. Also really only focused on the golden age of Yakuza cinema from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, I'd have liked more on how the Yakuza are depicted in modern cinema. It did have some fascinating interviews with directors. 2.5/5

99. Pierrot Le Fou - a Jean Luc Goddard "masterpiece" featuring Anna Karina (who intro'd the film very poorly) that I just plain didn't get and left after 45 minutes. It was slightly amusing but was really just 60s absurdist humour that wasn't really absurd enough. 1/5

100. Troubled Water - a young man is released from prison and gets a job as a church organist, a young mother seeks answers as to why and how her son died. Basically the same story from the two separate perspectives, this film really got to me on an emotional level where the film maker manages to show sympathy for a child killer as well as empathy for a mother who has lost her son. Despite a predictable ending, it was so well acted, directed and beautifully shot that I didn't really mind - I liked it enough I spent the last hour with a bursting bladder. 4/5

101. Moon - wow, seriously brilliant performance by Sam Rockwell as a lone miner on the far side of the moon who, after an accident, finds out that his three year contract, and indeed his life as he knows it, isn't at all what it seems. Not a perfect film but still damn great as a character study on several levels and fantastic showcase of Rockwell's talent. With a haunting Clint Mansell soundtrack and a really intense and quite funny script, I totally loved this film EXCEPT [SPOILER]the audio in the last 30 seconds just PISSED ME OFF. For a film that had such a big mystery and didn't answer every single question, to tell us what happens when he returns to Earth just plain annoyed me.[/SPOILER] 4.5/5

102. White Night Wedding - an amusing though ultimately forgettable Icelandic film about a man, on the eve of his wedding, struggling to come to terms with the way his life is heading and what he has actually achieved as a man. It was interesting but didn't really pack enough of a punch to make me recommend it, though I did quite like the final scene that sort of laid down a cyclic nature to his douchebaggery. 2.5/5

103. Home - truly bizarre French film about a family living 5 metres away from a never opened highway who use the highway as their personal playground. Things change when the highway reopens and we experience how they deal with the noise and eventually how they all go a little mad when they solve the noise problem. Strange film but quite funny, was weird seeing the non-sexualised nudity of all bar the mother but that's just the French way I guess. 2/5

104. About Elly - Iranian film detailing how little white lies told to maintain social status can balloon out of proportion to cause real grief. Fascinating film that would work in any culture, not just Iranian. Very well acted but such a muted colour palette that it becomes quite depressing. 3/5

105. Red Riding: 1974 - first in a trilogy detailed the insipid corruption of the Yorkshire police department in the late 70s and early 80s. Extremely well acted, great direction and a very tight script, I'm curious to find out how much of this actually happened. Not a typical Journalist solves the case for the cops kind of film though it did feel like that at times. 2.5/5

106. Katalin Varga - a Romanian revenge noir film where a woman seeks out the men that raped her to even the score with not exactly the hapiest ending on Earth. Despite only being 90 minutes it felt too long with certain scenes going for far too long but that's a small gripe for what turned out to be a relatively interesting film. 2.5/5

107. The Chaser - once again a Koren director takes a stab at a genre and comes up with something quite different to western cinema. When the case is pretty much solved about 30 minutes into the film, what else can happen? Actually quite realistic as it depicts the incompetence of a police department that also has their hands tied, while watching I kept thinking of how so many serial killers were caught because of something unrelated to their crimes or had previously been caught and let go due to no evidence. The idea of an ex-cop pimp essentially solving the case tickled me and with an ending that goes right out there I quite enjoyed this film though it didn't quite go as far as I was hoping. 3.5/5

108. Still Walking - pretty much a perfect film. Basically a day in the life of a Japanese family who meet up at the home of the parents on the anniversary of their son's death. With great understated acting on everyone's behalf and a script that just lets the characters reveal themselves over a leisurely two hours this film won't be for everyone but I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is why I love MIFF, where I see a film that doesn't sound like much and that I'd probably otherwise never see but I'm just mesmerized from start to end. 5/5

109. Land of Madness - a French nutter details the grisly murders and psychotic behaviour of people in a small remote area of the French countryside. A little bit nuts, a little bit scary, but a lot of utter crap. In the end was quite boring. 1/5

110. Red Riding: 1980 - continues detailing the corruption of the West Yorkshire police force with the Yorkshire Ripper murders featuring as a backdrop. This is some scary sh*t, to think that the men and women who are supposed to be protecting us could be worse than many criminals. Consummately acted, great direction and a very tight script that just oozes class. 4/5

111. Skirt Day - a teacher loses the plot when one of her students brings a gun to class and through a series of unfortunate events we see just how much pressure she is under and why she snapped and has taken the kids hostage. Good premise and well acted but just didn't go into the issues deeply enough for me and also had quite a predictable ending. 2/5

112. Prodigal Sons - poorly made but fascinating home-movie style doco about a guy who is now a girl trying to reconnect with her estranged brother who, quite frankly, is just not quite right in the head. The Orson Welles connection was just amazing and completely unexpected. Brave stuff documenting the highs and extremely low lows of this quite screwed up family. 3/5

113. The Misfortunates - although it had its moments I just didn't enjoy this film detailing the life of a young boy and his crazy arse family and his attempts later in life to free himself from his bogan-like background. Just didn't do it for me. 1/5

114. Bronson - a bizarre and violent ride through the life of Britain's most famous violent inmate. It's one of those crazy and insane films, like Ex Drummer from a couple years back, that just sucks you in and makes you realise how out there cinema can be. Brilliant performance from the lead and an awesome soundtrack with some truly classic lines that had me in stitches. 4/5

115. Hansel and Gretel - a distinctly Korean take on a classic fairy tale that just doesn't work. It had the potential to go into some seriously weird and cool head space or even into thriller/horror territory but instead sticks to PG-esque leanings and ultimately a boring pay off. 1.5/5

116. The September Issue - almost a perfect doco detailing the trials and tribulations of American Vogue and the journey to release their annually biggest issue. With particular attention paid to Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour - the inspiration behind Meryl Streep's performance in The Devil Wears Prada - and filled with inter-office and inter-personal wheelings and dealings it really is quite fascinating how they go about the process. 4.5/5

117. Ajami - 5 chapters in what you just know is gonna be a sad and grinding story set in the Ajami district of Jaffa, an incredibly violent and religiously divided city in Israel. Doesn't paint any one religion in any particularly good or bad light but instead tries to portray life as it stands for various people from different backgrounds. Well acted, well directed, and very well scripted, I enjoyed this from start to finish. It has an increasing sense of pointless dread so that you just know the end is gonna be depressing. 4/5

118. An Education - lovely UK film detailing the romance between a young school girl and her older paramour in 1961 London, however you just know that not everything is as it seems. Particularly good performances from leads Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan and highly touching and amusing turns by Emma Thompson and particularly Alfred Molina. A very enjoyable and charming film. Oh and I swear Dominic Cooper is Karl Urban's twin. 4.5/5

119. Flame & Citron - fantastically acted and brilliantly paced WW2 thriller detailing the lives of two Danish assassins charged with the task of murdering Danish Nazi sympathisers. But are they being told the right information and are they killing the right people? Based on a true story it is a great film from start to finish but for some reason the director kept doing wobbly zooms while in already close-up shots which I found very distracting. 4/5

120. Film Ist. A Girl And A Gun - utter tripe and yet I was bizarrely mesmerised by this 90 minute trot through archival footage of almost any subject from WW1 to early pornos with a constantly evolving soundtrack. The porn was fun to watch but the rest was pretty much sh*t. 0.5/5

121. All Around Us - a slow burn type film detailing the ups and downs of a Japanese couple through the 90's and early 00's. Wonderfully understated and beautifully acted, it took a while but I got fully involved and really enjoyed this film. I like how everything that happened wasn't completely explained and it was really just showing us the ever evolving nature of a couple's love for each other as well as their fears for their relationship. 4/5

122. Mother - did a son commit a crime? Is he really guilty or just a patsy? Well, leave it to Mum to find out the truth and sort this sh*t out. Despite, from the start, being able to tell how this was likely to end (knew it for sure when the old man was "remembered") I still quite enjoyed this quirky Korean whodunit with a twist. Some truly bizarre imagery and situations added to what ended up being a slightly too long but definitely watchable film. 3.5/5

123. *Watchmen - rewatched this Sunday morning 'cause housemate had it on, still a good film but I can see why some people didn't like it - you gotta follow it closely.

124. The King and the Bird - an old 1980 French film that had a dull story line, dull animation, and awful voice acting and music. Pretty damn crap all 'round really, I even dozed during the last half. 0.5/5 for the slightly cool giant robot.

125. Fish Tank - a replacement for the pulled The Moss, I enjoyed the director's first film, Red Road, and this was just as bleak yet strangely uplifting as well. Mia is infatuated with her Mum's new boyfriend and things go quickly down the gurgler when he returns the affection. Really good performances by some no-name actors, a mother who is a stunningly awful cow with perfect tits, and a little sister with some of the foulest language I have ever heard. Quite enjoyed it despite the expected dread that didn't quite go down the hardest path. 3.5/5

126. Breathless - a standover man for a debt collector has his view of the world skewed when he crosses paths with a tough-as-nails high school girl who changes his perception of life. Has a grounded reality and real sense of hope to this tale of two people whose lives have been pretty damn sh*t, to put it mildly, finding each other in a screwed up world and being able to accept each other without all the crap attached. Great performances with a real heart to the story and acting, I was taken in and surprised when it ended as the 2+ hours seemed to fly by. It's not all roses and doesn't shy away from the hard subjects and once again we have a wonderful Korean film - they can be hit and miss but this one definitely hits. 4/5

127. It Might Get Loud - The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White get together and talk about their love of the guitar and also have a bit of a jam together. With constant cut aways to the history of each man and their path through music with particular attention to the guitars they used and what they meant to them, this is really quite a fascinating doco for music lovers. It isn't perfect, and if you're not into the music of any of them it might prove boring, but I enjoyed it from beginning to end although ti could have done with a little more editing and more of them just jamming together. The three of them performing The Weight at the end was wonderful. 3.5/5

128. Eden Log - budget black and white noir sci-fi filmed in actual sewers. A for effort, D for result. The story took too long to get into and was too confusing, many of the scenes seemed laborious and purposefully over-stylised, the relatively dull story line didn't help it at all. Interesting but in the end a failed attempt at something a little different - if the story is fascinating or new enough, no amount of "wow" factor will hold an audience and last night's audience definitely wasn't held. 2/5

129. Cheeky Girls - a German girl-teen comedy with typical hi-jinks that ensue when three best friends decide to mess with their teachers' lives while also just discovering the joys of boys. Was a nice start to the day, not too heavy and not too dumb. 2.5/5

130. Eastern Plays - two brothers try to restore some meaning to their lives after a random violent encounter. One is a recovering heroin addict, the other is being sucked into a violent neo-nazi gang. This was a so-so kind of film where in the end not a lot happened and I just didn't feel any empathy or sympathy towards the characters - they got themselves into their own messes. The main character of Christo was just plain weird at times and didn't deserve the attentions of the stunning Turkish girl. In the end quite bland story with a very bland colour palette which really didn't help. 1.5/5

131. The Maid - Raquel has been a made for a family for over twenty years, she only has time for "her" children and devotes her entire life to them. Starting to get on in years, the family decide it is time Raquel has some help with her duties and attempts to hire another maid to ease Raquel's burden. Unfortunately Raquel takes umbrage to this an proceeds to go a little bit nuts in protecting her kids and her territory. Great performance by the lead in this slightly funny slightly scary portrayal of a woman living for someone else's children. It didn't go deep enough into her hatred of the eldest daughter which was a bit of a red herring and also tended to pull back at places when I could see it could have gone further. All the same it was quite enjoyable to watch and really quite funny. 3.5/5

132. Morphia - a young doctor arrives at a remote village in 1917 Russia and through unfortunate circumstances becomes addicted to morphia (which I am assuming is morphine). Strange little film that is shot quite beautifully, the performances seemed a little stilted and the story just didn't flow enough for me - there was no real development of the Doctor as a character, it was really just a litany of events detailing his downward spiral into drug hell. The MIFF guide billed this as having one of the best and most shocking endings of the festival, it wasn't. 1.5/5

133. Antichrist - Lars Von Trier's ode to who-the-hell-knows-what. Features some pretty good performances by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as the only two actors in the film but in the end it all seemed a little contrived and really just an excuse for Von Trier to go a little off the rails and show us some real sex, some genital mutilation and some weird animal sh*t. Beautifully shot but ultimately failing to move me in any way due to a story that was just so far out there it made little sense, I didn't really like this. 1/5

134. Brendan & the Secret of Kells - Irish animated film with a relatively dull story though it looked nice enough. 2/5

135. Members of the Funeral - confirmation that the Koreans are weirder than the Japanese. Strange film about 3 people attending the funeral of a teenage boy and remembering how they knew him. Just plain weird but actually quite entertaining. 3/5

136. Food, Inc. - scary doco about the US food industry and just how unnatural and unregulated it is. Not sure how relevant it is to the Australian market but interesting nonetheless. Didn't quite go into enough detail on a few issues as it's more a broad brushstroke sort of doco. 2.5/5

137. Blessed - brilliant Aussie drama featuring several stories about children and their relationships with the mothers. With an absolutely stand out performance by Frances O'Connor this is an overt attempt to grab the heartstrings that works quite well despite being so obvious. 4/5

138. In The Loop - one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. I missed half the jokes 'cause the audience was laughing so much s I'll definitely have to see it again. Basically a piss take of the UK and US governments attempting to avoid or even cause war in the Middle East. Absolutely crazy and probably scarily accurate. Has a great cameo by Steve Coogan. 4.5/5

139. Louise-Michel - a French comedy that was actually amusing! Some seriously piss-funny moments are in this film about a group of factory workers pooling their money together to hire a hitman to take out their ex-boss who has shut their factory down. The 9/11 nutjob was hilarious. 3.5/5

140. Young Freud In Gaza - nice little doco about a psychologist treating various people in Gaza for mostly PTSD-like afflictions. Qas quite sad to hear the kids talk about thier loved ones who had been killed. Not brilliant but kept me interested. 3/5

141. The Hurt Locker - fantastic film about a US bomb squad in Iraq. Great story, tense action and great performances. 4/5

142. North - a guy traveling north to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend and his son meets a few off people along the way. Had quite a few funny moments and a fantastically understated ending, was a little dull at the start but last half was very good. 3.5/5

143. The Loved Ones - Best. Aussie. Horror/Thriller. EVER!!! So glad I stood in the standby queue for this one (also got to meet John Brumpton who plays the father in the film whilst I was queuing). I think the less you know of the plot the better as once it starts it just does not let up on the hilarious freakiness. 5/5

144. Tears For Sale - quite an amusing if overly long Serbian film about two sisters leaving their village to find a man to bring back to their manless village. Features some absolutely stunning women and quite a few laughs and it is beautifully shot in a highly stylized way. 3/5

145. The Sky Crawlers - worst Anime film I have EVER seen. The story was atrociously crap and it could have been an hour shorter as it featured so many scenes where nothing actually happened. 0.5/5 as the dogfights looked quite good, but that's it.

146. Bran Nue Dae - a fun Aboriginal musical with a great performance by Ernie Dingo and some hilarious over the top comedy from Geoffrey Rush and Deborah Mailman. I found the songs annoying as the Director made the mistake of just switching to the recorded songs and not including audio from the actual film - simple things like leaving in background noise at these times really makes a difference.

END OF MIFF

147. *Little Miss Sunshine - watched it again when it was on TV the other night. Great film, just great. 4/5

148. Dead Snow - concept was intriguingly funny - Nazi Zombies - execution was a little dull and not funny enough. 1.5/5

149. District 9 - fantastic film with some great commentary about race relations, bigotry, and a whole bunch of other stuff. There were two aspects of the film I didn't quite like but maybe that's just me nitpicking - during the film I thought they could be done in a different way that made much more sense. Great effects, great story, great action, lots of funny. 4/5

150. Mum & Dad - sadistic, cruel, disgusting, horrific, downright gross - all of these words perfectly describe this film inspired by Fred & Rosemary West. That being said, it goes more for the disgusting than any true attempt at looking at the motivations of such people or how they manage to cow their "adopted children." It went for shock rather than anything intelligent, give it a miss. 1/5

151. Red Riding: 1983 - final in a great trilogy once again exploring the deaths of the girls from the first film. Features a fantastic performance by Mark Addy (who will be Robert Baratheon in the Game of Thrones HBO series). I nice wrap up to the series with brilliant scripting and some great acting. The guy who plays BJ (and who narrates the whole trilogy) is just plain haunting. 4/5

152. Ice Age 3 Dawn of the Dinosaurs - the animation was better but the script was just woeful. I don't think I laughed at all and only smiled once or twice. They've really lost their touch. 1.5/5

153. Eden Lake - a couple go for a romantic camping weekend at a lake at an abandoned quarry but soon a small altercation with some local kids spirals out of control into increasingly sadistic and horrifying behaviour. Bravely acted, horrifyingly plausible and with an ending that ain't exactly happy, I was riveted. An exploration without any meaning of the sadistic and cruel nature of humanity and peer pressure. 3.5/5

154. Lesbian Vampire Killers - absolute bollocks although did feature some nice boobies but even that couldn't save an absolutely horrendously crap and boring film. 0.1/5

PROJECT 365: 47 - 83

2009-07-14T11:14:00.004+10:00

First post in quite some while after the stupid angsty emo bullshit of the last one. I realise no one reads this anyway but it's nice to keep a list of what I've watched and what I thought of it even if for my own recollections.

MIFF starts up in a couple weeks - can't wait and it should almost double this lackluster list - perhaps 365 films in one calendar year was asking a bit much eh?

Also I couldn't be bothered linking to the IMDB page of each film any more.

47. Step Brothers - I'm not a huge fan of Will Ferrel or John C Reilly but this actually had a number of quite amusing scenes in it. I AM a huge fan of the ever sexy Mary Steenburgen - ROWR! 2.5/5

48. The Kingdom - I'd heard this was really trite and crap but I quite liked it. Seemed to have a lot of mumbling of lines especially from Jamie Fox, also I thought the fact that none of the main American characters cark it at the end was a bit dull. Still quite enjoyable. 3.5/5

49. Righteous Kill - total paint by the numbers "thriller" with Pacino and De Niro. Picked who the real killer was extremely early int he piece with some very poorly revealed red herrings merely confirming my theory. Dull, predictable, crap. 1/5

50. The Deer Hunter - I'm never EVER playing Russian Roulette. Not that I ever wanted to, but after watching this I REALLY don't want to. Was about an hour too long with certain scenes - especially the wedding - just going on FAR too long though I can see why it won so many Oscars. Basically a good film with a bit of a message and a great performance by De Niro and an even better one by Christopher Walken, yet not everyone's cup of tea. 3.5/5

51. Semi-Pro - another Will Ferrel comedy that really makes bugger all sense and is pretty much just a vehicle for a bunch of one liners. A few laughs but don't go out of your way to check it out. 1.5/5

52. Elegy - went to a free screening last night of the new Ben Kingsley film and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Basically this professor who has lead a very independent life falls in love with one of his students (Penelope Cruz) and it follows his rather amusing travails of a love lorn fool in his sixties. Although the ending was rather cliched the cameos by Patricia Clarkson and Dennis Hopper are just fantastic with the son played by an ever wonderful Peter Sarsgaard. Kingsley is just bloody brilliant as well. A little long at 2 hours it's still a really good and funny film with a bit of heart thrown in for good measure. 4/5

53. You Don't Mess With The Zohan - meh, had its moments. Actually portrayed Israeli & Palestinian relations with a bit of sincerity and reality despite the stupid jokes. 2/5

54. Star Trek - some minor quibbles with lens flares and under use of Nero still don't detract from a rollicking and fun ride. Karl Urban was especially good as Bones with a second viewing really helping to cement my feelings of the film. 3.5/5

55. Wolverine - a fun and nonsensical ride, it is what it is and makes no bones about being silly and overwrought. 2.5/5

56. Mirrors - complete and utter drivel. Like, TOTALLY shite. 0.1/5

57. State of Play - a great tension filled film with some great performances and a nice tight and well thought out script. Saw a few of the plot twists coming (especially the big reveal at the end) but was nonetheless a very enjoyable film to watch. 4/5

58. Sex Drive (Unrated) - typical teen losing virginity comedy except it actually had quite a few funny bits. Unrated version made it funnier 'cause they just had random shots of naked people superimposed into scenes for no apparent reason, also they showed multiple takes of certain scenes including ones where the actors stuff up and for some reason that made it funnier. 2/5

59. Donkey Punch - crappy UK thriller film with a pretty awful premise, pretty awful script and pretty awful acting. Dude getting hacked up by the outboard motor wielded by a psycho chick was kinda funny though. 1/5

60. Sunshine Cleaning - lovely little film from the people that brought us Little Miss Sunshine (I think) about two sisters starting up a crime scene cleaning business. Good performances all 'round with a great script and a heartfelt little story to boot including some very funny black humour. 4/5.

61. Fanboys - bunch of Star Wars geeks try and break into Skywalker Ranch to see Episode 1 six months early soa dying friend gets to check it out. Had a few amusing moments with some obvious Star Wars and Star Trek jokes but overall quite a flat film. 1.5/5

62. Yes Man - not a massive fan of Jim Carrey but this was actually quite a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Basically a nice little comedy with and admittedly silly premise that si pulled off quite well. 3/5

63. Coraline - stop motion animation with some CG that looks fantastic just doesn't help what I considered a rather flat story line that took far oo long to get going. Also Dakota Fanning as a voice actress just plain sucked, shame as Neil Gaiman is usually awesome. 2.5/5

64. Terminator Salvation - better than what I thought or had been lead to believe by very poor reviews. Sure it ain't perfect but it was a damn sight better than T3 even if Christian Bale is a total ponce who is bad as John Connor and is just plain shite as Batman. Sam Worthington did a good job with an essentially poor script. 2.5/5

65. *The Emperor's New Groove - the only saving grace in this pretty dismal effort from Disney was Patrick Warburton as the evil chick's hapless sidekick. I really don't know why I watched this again... 1/5

66. Superhero Movie - knew I wouldn't like it but left it on in the background while I surfed the web and watched bits and pieces of it. How these guys get funding I'll never know. 0.1/5

67. Religulous - Bill Maher's somewhat preachy dig at all religion (though he focuses on Christianity and Islam). Was certainly interesting but it was more just him making very religious people look stupid, which in all honestly is not a hard thing to do. 2/5

68. He's Just Not That Into You - I feel... I dunno, I just feel really awful for liking this film. Of course having Scarlett Johannson threaten to get her tits out in almost every scene she is in made me keep watching, but I did actually like the various stories and humour. 3/5.

69. Wordplay - fantastic doco about the history and the people behind the New York Times crossword puzzle and the yearly competition to become Crossword King or Queen. Some fascinating characters and some great interviews with the likes of Jon Stewart and Bill Clinton. Great doco with a great climactic ending. 4/5

70. Spellbound - fascinating but ultimately flawed doco about a spelling bee championship in the 90s. It was interesting to see where the contestants came from and how well they went in the competition, but it's just so poorly made that it detracts from the enjoyment of it quite a lot. It's like the guy recorded over his own early 1980s era VHS wedding tape to make this and the poor production just takes too much away form what could have been a compelling story. 2/5

71. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen - really not a thing was good about this film. Poor script, degrading and puerile humour, over-the-top gung-ho American Militarism, some really shoddy effects mixed in with quite good ones yet not used to nay great advantage, a total rape of Egyptian geography, some truly bad acting (when Shia Lebouf is the stand out in a film you gotta be worried) and once again Michael Bay's incessant use of spinning pan shots. Really, this is just plain ridiculous nonsense. Ah well, can't win 'em all. 0.5/5

72. *Aladdin - always loved this movie growing up but somehow it's lost a bit of its charm. Not nearly as amusing or with as many songs as I vaguely remembered, still a fun ride though. 2.5/5

73. The X Files - I Want To Believe - didn't see the last season or two fo this show so didn't know Scully and Mulder got together - that just felt weird. An interesting enough story I guess but it just didn't have the same pizazz as the original show. 2/5

74. The Ruins - truly awful "horror" film. Save you the trouble - the plant kills everyone. Yes. It's a killer plant. Can't believe I watched the whole 1.5 hours of characters you don't care about dying. 0.5/5.

75. The Promotion - ho hum comedy with touches of drama. John C Reilly is always interesting to see when he tries to do things slightly more seriously, some rather funny moments but overall very ho hum. 1.5/5

76. The Day The Earth Stood Still - relatively average remake. The nano-bots were interesting as was the reason Canoe looked human. Entertaining but not brilliant. 2.5/5

77. Burn After Reading - bizarrely funny, I rally like films where no one seems to know WTF is going on and they just keep digging themselves deeper or keep screwing things up (much like Very Bad Things). Great performances all round. 4/5

78. Immortal Ad Vitum - ugh. I ended up fast forwarding a bunch of this, totally crappy CG film containing some live action characters. They should have made them all CG or all live, the mix was just awful. Combine that with a truly inscrutable and bizarre story line and a dude dressed up as a hammer head chark and you have a stinking pile of crap. 0.1/5 - the 0.1 is for having Sigur Ros on the soundtrack.

79. Idiocracy - pretty dull film. Felt like a 5 minute Saturday Night Live sketch stretched out to an hour and a half, had a few amusing moments but overall quite shit. 1/5

80. The Tale of Despereaux - some great talents in the voices doesn't save a relatively lackluster film with a script that has a few too many jumps in it and some pointless scenes or characters. Kiddies might enjoy it but even then it doesn't have enough action scenes to keep them entertained. 1.5/5

81. Paul Blart - Mall Cop - surprisingly amusing film with some real laugh out loud moments. Stupid premise, stupid execution and stupid acting make for a stupid yet entertaining film. 3/5

82. Chaos Theory - doesn't start out promisingly but once we get into Frank's story and how his life disintegrates because of one single error in judgment by his wife it becomes a seriously funny and moving story about the strength of love and family. Ryan Reynolds once again shows why he should be on everyone's "to watch" radar as he continues to pick intelligent and meaningful roles. 4.5/5

83. 88 Minutes - Al Pacino hams in another performance with a dull and unimpressive cast. Leelee Sobieski makes watching paint dry look more exciting. Pretty average concept that has been done to death before with obvious Red Herrings being thrown up all over the place like Fruity Legspreader after an 18th birthday party. 1/5

Le Sigh

2009-04-30T15:30:00.002+10:00

Why is it the better things seem to get and the more that things look up, the more depressed and addicted to sadness and self pity I get? Damn you strange chemical reactions of the brain!

Meh, I'll get over it.

Project 365 has kinda been left by the way side 'cause of books, beer, TV, laziness and more beer.

PROJECT 365: 35 - 46

2009-03-12T11:56:00.001+11:00

35. Possibly, Maybe - I've always liked Ryan Reynolds as both and action man and a leading man for romantic comedies, this is of the latter variety and he does a pretty good job carrying a film that is relatively standard fare. It was rather enjoyable with nothing too disagreeable in there and it was nice to see Isla Fischer getting some good screen time. 3/5

36. *Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within - just had to check this out on the home theatre screen. It's quite a good film with amazing animation, it doesn't make a massive amount of sense but with great voice talent and a very nice score you can overlook that. 3/5

37. Rachel Getting Married - Anne Hathaway is fantastically unlikeable, annoying and just plain screwed up in this weird little film and I really enjoyed it the whole way through. Seriously strange family and the weirdest wedding scene in film history with great performances and fantastic script make this a must see for any indie film fan, also tugs at the heart strings quite powerfully. 4.5/5

38. Seven Pounds - Will Smith hams it up in this paint-by-the-numbers drama about a dude who is feeling rather guilty about once being a douche bag and killing a bunch of people, thus he spends the rest of his life paying back his "seven pounds of flesh". It was sad and uplifting when it needed to be but there was nothing really revallatory about it. 3/5

39. Eagle Eye - I figured out who the chick on the phone was pretty quickly and their big reveal was a bit of a let down. Check your brain at the door and just enjoy the strange ride witht he bright lights and loud noises. 1.5/5

40. The Wrestler - despite the overuse of bind-the-protagonist camera work where we are pretty much just following people around, this is actually a seriously good film. Who knew Mickey Rourke could actually act? Also, Marissa Tomei's breasts are a revelation. 4/5.

41. How To Lose Friends And Alienate People - quite an amusing if predictable Simon Pegg comedy vehicle with pretty good performances all round and a rather amusing script. 3/5

42. Terms of Endearment - had to finally check out this supposed classic tear jerker. It's a strange film eh? Debra Winger is just plain nuts but I think Shirley Maclean and Jack Nicholson really carry this film. 2.5/5

43. Watchmen - certainly not your typical comic book film! The 2hrs 40mins just fly by mainly due to a fantastically dark script and some great performances, especially from Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach. However, beware the blue penis. 4.5/5

44. Hitman - amusing enough although the story is ridiculous as is much of the so called "acting" (Dougray Scott is exactly the same in every single film he's ever been in). In the end more mindless violence just for the Hell of it although Timothy Olyphaunt's way of carrying himself as number 47 was pretty cool. 1.5/5

45. Run Fatboy Run - yet another predictable though rather amusing Simon Pegg film, nice to Hank Azaria although maybe saw a little to much of him. 2/5

46. 1408 - ho hum Stephen King horror film. I'm a major fan of John Cusack but the script and the non-scariness of this film were just too ridiculous. 0.5/5

PROJECT 365: 26 - 34

2009-02-17T12:26:00.003+11:00

26. Bolt - I was a bit leery going in to this but ended up quite enjoying it with many a *laughs* moment. The various pigeons cracked me up and loved the cats teasing bolt from the top of the trailer, tryin to perfect their evil laughs and remember Bolt's message. Vice talent was good, animation was fantastic, story was quite adequate. 3/5

27. The Reader - just came back from a free screening of this and I can see why Kate Winslett is getting so many awards, she is simply stunning in it (and not only 'cause she spends half the film naked and in sex scenes). I didn't now much about the story going in and that was a good thing. Seriously emotionally charged film that doesn't have the typical wrapped up happy ending. Everyone else in the film is great and I totally loved it. 5/5

28. Sharkwater - poorly made but good intentioned doco about the plight of sharks and how their demise due to the popularity of shark fin soup could have massive detrimental effects to the world's largest ecologies. 3/5

29. *Clash of the Titans - classic Ray Harryhausen animated/live action film that doesn't age well. Ah well, maybe childhood memories of these films should stay there. 1.5/5

30. Babylon AD - films like this PISS ME OFF. How do they get the funding to make films with such a disjointed script? Such awful acting? Such lame direction? Honestly, I could have shit a better film than this. -3/5

31. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - had a few giggles but not as amusing as the original. Neil Patrick Harris is, as always, awesome. 1/5

32. Speed Racer - Not a fan of the fast and frenetic nature of this film or the hyper-animated style but I actually quite liked the story line. Not great but not as crap as I thought it was going to be. 2/5

33. Elephant - disturbing Gus Van Sant film that sort of mirrors the events of Columbine High. Good acting and at times good directing - Van Sant's penchant for long ambling shots where you are just following a student walking through the labyrinth of halls worked sometimes but mostly not. It did evoke more eerie feelings towards the end though. Can certainly see where that young Aussie director who made "2:37" got his inspiration from. 3/5

34. Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood is simply awesome as a racist, bigotted, grumpy old man who becomes involved with the lives of two young Asian neighbours. I thought the young guy wasn't the greatest actor in the world but the story and acting from everyone else was just so spot on that it didn't matter. Sad but uplifting ending, Eastwood has certainly decided to pull out all the stops before he carks it. 4/5

PROJECT 365: 12 - 25

2009-02-04T16:35:00.002+11:00

12. Wolf Creek - well I can understand why this film was lauded and loved, but honestly it was as formulaic as most horror films out there. John Jarrat and Kestie Morassi did great jobs with their characters, yet once again - like all these films - the protagonists have a ripe opportunity to kill the bad guy and they screw it up, or she decides to waste time watching video camera footage instead of looking for a car or her friend (and then gets what she deserves). 1.5/5.

13. *Awakenings - the first repeat of Project 365 and damn me what a great film to repeat seeing. I basically teared up the whole way through and was mesmerised by both DeNiro and Williams' performances. Was kinda weird seeing Julie Kavner in there - kept expecting her to launch into her Marge Simpson voice - but that didn't matter. This is truly an exceptional and wonderful and heart breaking film, all the more poignant 'cause it is all based on a true event. 5/5.

14. The King of Kong - A Fistful of Quarters - this is quite possibly the most perfect documentary ever made. It's hilarious, creepy, sad and really gets you sucked right in to the machinations behind these - let's face it - losers, attempting to break the world record in Donkey Kong. The whole story arc you couldn't have even dreamed up and the smarminess of Billy is just astonishingly awesome. Everyone should see this, it's just absolutely brilliant film making with a kick arse ending. 6/5. (yep, I loved it that much)

15. *The Fisher King - Terry Gilliam's films are a bit hit and miss with me and this one mostly hits. I like the redemptive story and also Williams' manic character suits him to a T. 4/5.

16. *The Joy Luck Club - another repeat and probably wasn't a good idea to do so. This film hasn't aged well but that might actually be due to the DVD I watched - it looked like it was shot on cheap video cameras like they use for dodgy foreign TV shows that appear on SBS and not proper 35mm film cameras. Apart from that the story was rather labored in that you kind of knew where each one was going; lay on the tragedy as much as possible and see them come through as stronger and more focused women - now I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff but the acting by Ming-Na Wen especially was just so wooden and unbelievable that I did not really enjoy this much at all. 1.5/5.

17. Valkyrie - had free tickets to see this through MIFF. I quite enjoyed it despite knowing that the whole thing was not going to end well at all (obviously they don't kill Hitler). Tom Cruise was quite good as the determined and driven main protagonist and the support cast had some big names who did very well in their roles. I was particularly impressed with Bill Nighy. The mix of Merkin, UK and German accents was a little off putting at the start but once the story kicked into gear I really didn't notice it at all. Will be very interesting to watch the original German version I recorded off SBS the other night as the ads had a few shots hat looked strikingly similar. 3/5

18. The Contender - Joan Allen plays a US Senator nominated for the Vice Presidency who has to go through a committee process where they basically dig through her past and rip sh*t through her. Caught it on TV and really enjoyed it with great performances all 'round especially from Gary Oldman. 4/5

19. *Låt Den Rätte Komma In (Let The Right One In) - had to re-watch after finishing the book and still really enjoyed it. They kept very faithful to the book although maybe finding out about Eli's past could have been good as well. 5/5

20. El Orfanato (The Orphanage) - nice little supernatural thriller with a gorgeous lead actress and a rather creepy story with a bittersweet ending. 3/5

21. Rock 'n' Rolla - Guy Ritchie attempting get back to his hey day of Lock Stock and Snatch and he sort of gets there. It was amusing enough the way he intertwined his stories and I enjoyed the end tie-up of the last few minutes even though you could see it coming. The gay club dancing was hilarious. 3/5

22. *Superman Returns - only saw this once at the cinema and thought I'd re-watch to see if my original vitriol was well deserved or not and basically - yes and no. Yes it is an atrocious script with one of the dumbest ideas for a villain's plan in the history of comic book films ever but Bryan Singer did shoot a beautiful looking film with really bright and saturated colours and some damn good editing and pacing. The actors are all quite good with Spacey being the stand out although why Kal Penn was mostly reduced to scenes where he has a stupid grin on his pace that is supposed to be evil rather than actually having a speaking role I will never know. I also found it amusing that Singer cast so many of his gay (not that there's anything wrong with that) buddies in the film in various roles (Spacey, that footballer dude, etc). 2.5/5

23. Charlie Wilson's War - a great film about the quest of a US Congressman to stave off the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in the 80's and covertly aid the Afghan's in their struggle. I couldn't figure out why I liked this film so much until the final credits rolled - written by Aaron Sorkin, creator of West Wing & Studio 60 - 'nuff said. Loved Julia Roberts in this. 4/5

24. My Sassy Girl - a great little Korean film about a guy who comes to the rescue of an abusively drunk girl on a train. He decides to stay with her and try and heal her pain despite the fact she treats him so bad. Very funny and heart warming, I'm tempted to check out the Merkin remake to see if they managed to ruin it or not. 3.5/5

25. Slumdog Millionaire - you've all heard about it, it's great to see the dude from Skins in the main role, everyone is awesome with fantastic performances from the two youngest boys especially. Absolute loved it. Was not too fond of Boyle's overuse of angled shots at the start of the film but he calmed that down soon enough so that I was completely lost in the story. 5/5

PROJECT 365: 6 to 11

2009-01-13T14:27:00.005+11:00

6. The Lookout - Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a jock who winds up in a car accident that kills some of his friends and gives him some brain damage. Afterwards his life is all about making inappropriate comments out loud that he just can't stop and also making notes about everything so that he can remember things that he is almost certain to forget. He gets a job cleaning a bank at nights and soon some crooks start manipulating him into helping them rob the bank. Although it sounds kinda familiar the film is done so well and with an ending I didn't quite expect it is very much worth seeing. Some great performances especially by Levitt, Jeff Daniels as his blind housemate and Isla Fischer as the love interest. A great film with a real sense of menace from the robbers and a powerfully portrayed young man seeking redemption and acceptance. 4.5/5

7. The Bank Job - good film, not brilliant. Would like to find out just how much of it actually really happened. 2.5/5

8. Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging - a great little UK film about a 14 year old girl coming of age and trying to nab the perfect guy as a boyfriend. It's all been done before (found it very similar to 32A) but it was a very very funny film - Angus the cat steals the show. 4/5

9. The Mummy 3 - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - trite bull crap. Some good effects with the Yetis but apart from that, pretty damn boringly crap. Brendan Fraser has a really weird voice. 0.5/5 for the Vomiting Yak.

10. Igor - why waste so much money and some pretty damn good animation on a script/story that has been done a million times before by Disney? I really don't understand Hollywood sometimes. Seriously, this is exactly the same as so many other films that I started planning dinner 30 minutes in. What a waste. 0.5/5 - gets half a point for decent animation and the amusing Annie angle.

11. Max Payne - hmmm, was ok despite the wooden acting and pretty shoddy script. I liked the hallucination aspect of it but the story was just so damn obvious. I picked out who were the bad guys the instant they made an appearance and knew how the end game would play out. Mila Kunis' character was a complete waste of space and the bit after the credits was not worth the time it took me to fast forward through. Did notice it was filmed in Toronto and Hamilton though - I've been there! 1/5.

FINAL READING LIST FOR 2008

2009-01-05T10:27:00.003+11:00

Only got to 42 but a certain computer game and a lot of alcohol got in the way during December.

01 Mary Gentle - Grunts!
02 Robert A Heinlein - Stranger In A Strange Land
03 Karen Miller - The Innocent Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker 1)
04 Karen Miller - The Awakened Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker 2)
05 Joe Abercrombie - The Blade Itself (The First Law 1)
06 Joe Abercrombie - Before They Are Hanged (The First Law 2)
07 Ian McDonald - Brasyl
08 Richard Morgan - Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs 1)
09 Simon Hawke - The Outcast (Tribe of One 1)
10 Simon Hawke - The Seeker (Tribe of One 2)
11 Simon Hawke - The Nomad (Tribe of One 3)
12 Raymond E Feist - Wrath of a Mad God (Darkwar 3)
13 Chelsea Cain - Heartsick
14 Richard Morgan - Broken Angels (Takeshi Kovacs 2)
15 Richard Morgan - Woken Furies (Takeshi Kovacs 3)
16 Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument of Kings (The First Law 3)
17 Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space
18 R. Scott Bakker - The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince of Nothing 1)
19 R. Scott Bakker - The Warrior Prophet (The Prince of Nothing 2)
20 R. Scott Bakker - The Thousandfold Thought (The Prince of Nothing 3)
21 John Scalzi - Old Man's War
22 Ian Cameron Esslemont - Night of Knives (Malazan Companion 1)
23 Richard Morgan - Market Forces
24 Tobias Buckell - Crystal Rain (Nanagada 1)
25 Steven Erikson - Toll The Hounds (Malazan 8)
26 Various - Solaris Book of New Fantasy
27 Richard Morgan - The Steel Remains (People Who Say Fuck A Lot 1)
28 Joel Shepherd - Crossover (Cassandra Kressnov 1)
29 Joel Shepherd - Breakaway (Cassandra Kressnov 2)
30 Joel Shepherd - Killswitch (Cassandra Kressnov 3)
31 Kevin J Anderson - The Ashes of Worlds (Saga of Seven Suns 7)
32 John Scalzi - The Ghost Brigades
33 John Scalzi - The Last Colony
34 Ian Cameron Esslemont - Return Of The Crimson Guard (Malazan Companion 2)
35 Glen Cook - Shadows Linger (Black Company 2)
36 Glen Cook - The White Rose (Black Company 3)
37 Terry Pratchett - Nation
38 George RR Martin / Gardner Dozois / Daniel Abraham - Hunter's Run
39 Jeff Lindsay - Dexter In The Dark (Dexter 3)
40 Lynne Truss - Eats, Shoots & Leaves
41 David Gunn - Death's Head (Sven Tveskoeg 1)
42 Greg Keyes - The Briar King (Kingdom of Thorn & Bone 1)

PROJECT 365: 1 to 5

2009-01-05T10:18:00.004+11:00

So my main New Year's Resolution for 2009 is to see 365 films within the calendar year with a ratio of at least 90% ones I have not seen before. Crazy? Maybe. Fun? Yup. Possible? Time will tell...

1. Bad Santa - very funny film. Laughed my arse off and loved the kid in it, he was perfect. 4/5

2. Mean Girls - pretty amusing and was funny to see half the cast of Saturday Night Live in there (man Tina Fey is HOT!). Also had the delectable Rachel McAdams although I prefer her with red hair and not being such a bitch. 2.5/5

3. Constantine - pretty cool flick although the DVD I watched had a very low volume for the voices which was bloody annoying. Loved Peter Stormare as Satan and anything with Tilda Swinton in it gets a thumbs up from me. 3.5/5

4. Suddenly 30 - Garner did really well with the body language and vocal patterns of a 13 year old in a 30 year old's (hot) body. Had some laughs and was good to see Gollum/King Kong in a non-cgi role. 2/5

5. The Strangers - kinda kept thinking about Charles Manson and those psychos during this. Was entertaining in its own way but very very predictable. 1.5/5

And so it begins, only 360 to go!

I'll be including "sessions" at the Melbourne International Film Festival in this list, eg 10 short films in a session is still just one "film". I'll be making use of the weekly deals at Blockbuster and might go through different sections each week picking up 6 or so films in each at a time - I plan on browsing the sci-fi section tonight.

MILD BOOK REVIEWS #2

2008-12-15T12:28:00.011+11:00

So some more mini book reviews:

Kevin J Anderson - The Ashes of Worlds (The Saga of Seven Suns book 7) - a nice enough conclusion to a series that was a little up and down for my tastes. It started well with the first three books, lost a bit of the plot towards the middle there, and then tied things up relatively nicely by this final volume and its predecessor, Metal Swarm. Kevin Anderson is sort of an everyman when it comes to Sci-Fi and it will be interesting to see how he goes with his new Fantasy series which is due to start next year. All in all The Saga of Seven Suns was a sort of space opera type sci-fi-lite with a lot of Star Wars-ish leanings - he even admitted it was originally pitched as an idea for a Star Wars series. I realise this write-up isn't even a write-up but more an admission that here is a sci-fi series that was basically OK but really quite basic and pulpish in the end. Why Basil Wenceslas wasn't murdered by the end of book one I'll never know - some of the characters' actions or naivety just did not make sense.

Glen Cook - Chronicles of the Black Company - I've read these first three Black Company books now and am likely to read the sequels but they aren't too high on my list. I can see why Erikson refers to these novels as some of the inspiration behind the characters in his Malazan series and it's like he's taken the next evolutionary step. Enjoyable novels and a story that arcs over the first three books, the main character of Croaker is certainly engaging and he'd have to be as almost the entire story is from his perspective. Would not suit everyone as they are certainly written in an "old-school" feel or way - I dunno how to express it any better.

Terry Pratchett - Nation - Terry's first non-Discworld book since The Amazing Maurice and it was well worth the wait. Nation is a sad and endearing tale of two young people struggling to deal with death and disaster in a world unrecognisable after the horror of a Tsunami. Not as funny as his Discworld novels but certainly with more heart and soul, I adored this novel and would recommend it to anyone, even people not into fantasy as it's not really a fantasy novel, more alternate history/reality. Also has the poignancy of Terry dropping everything to write this as soon as he found out about his Alzheimer's - it was a story he'd always been putting off writing until he realised he might not have time left to finish it. Loved it.

Gardner Dozois / George RR Martin / Daniel Abraham - Hunter's Run - adapted and expanded from a short story by Dozois I found Hunter's Run, although initially unlikable, to be quite an engaging and quick read. Basically about a man captured by aliens and his struggle to define himself and his humanity when forced to aid in the hunt for another human fugitive, a fugitive with closer links to the hunter than he thinks. It's quite obvious from early on what the relationship between hunter and hunted really is so the big reveal isn't a shock at all, but there is certainly an interesting story told about identity and what it means to be who you are and how circumstances can affect your outlook on life.

Jeff Lindsay - Dexter in the Dark - with a fantastic first novel and a pretty good sequel, Lindsay has created something quite unique with his Dexter series and a spin-off TV show that just keeps getting better. Unfortunately the third novel lost the plot completely with some supernatural overtones that were just plain ridiculous. I find it amusing that the writers on his show are having far more fun with the character than he is, the third season has been great fun with Dexter finally finding a friend. I'll give the fourth book a go but if that is on par with this third one then I'll probably just stick with the TV show.

David Gunn - Death's Head - a thrilling and fun ride through an uber-violent sci-fi universe courtesy of the rough and ready Sven. I read this one in two days - a rarity for this slow reader for a 500+ page novel - because the writing was just so succinct and yet managed to paint a fantastically vivid picture of Sven and his travails with the Death's Head marines. Will definitely be reading the rest of this series, sort of a cross between Starship Troopers, Tales of the Malazan (the soldiering stuff from that anyway) and John Scalzi's books. Loved it.

SLACKER HIGH

2008-11-28T10:58:00.004+11:00

Well no new updates for a while, like I said this was not gonna be a seriously regular gig.

Everything is cool, have been reading some pretty good books - Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company (books 2 and 3), Terry Pratchett's Nation and just started Martin/Dozois/Abraham's Hunter's Run - looks like I can get to over 40 by the end of the year (Hunter's Run is #38) which is quite an achievement for me.

Seen some moofies: Tropic Thunder - hilarious, Starhip Troopers 3: Marauder - atrocious, Star Wars Clone Wars - meh, and watched in one sitting Kung-Fu Panda, Madagascar and Over The Hedge which actually just really showed how dull a moofie Madagascar is, I hope the sequel is far superior but am not holding my breath.

Had my housewarming last weekend which went well despite not really being able to use the outdoor area of our apartment because of the torrential rain, hail and cyclonic winds. Still plenty of fun with many a drink drunk. The image above is of moi and my friend Kerryn during a brief break in the weather - the balloons are Kerryn and Jane's idea of bringing the sunset with them.

Off to Perth next week for work - Monday night to Friday afternoon, which with the time difference means I get back to Melbourne at something like 9pm Friday - I have a pub crawl I am supposed to attend on the Saturday but flying always takes it out of me so I might not be able to attend... Ha! Who am I kidding? I'll be there with bells on!

Christmas is looming, must think of some gifts to foist onto the family...

Oh and I had planned a post about how I never get angry except over petty things - house mate and a friend recently commented about how I am pretty happy kind of guy (including a very happy drunk) and don't get angry or upset about things, that is until I released my furious anger in a tirade about neighbours and their bins and the evil passengers that pollute trams... ahem... Like I said, planned a post, but I'm lazy so it may never turn up.

MILD BOOK REVIEWS

2008-11-10T17:10:00.007+11:00

Although I love films and I love reading, I really don't like reviewing them at all - I either like 'em or I don't with the occasional in between. So with that in mind, here are a few mini reviews of recent books I've read:

Joel Shepherd - Cassandra Kressnov Trilogy (Crossover/Breakaway/Killswitch) - a great sci-fi lite series about a cyborg/android set on the world of Callay. Humanity has expanded to the stars however the breakaway League is more inclined to explore technological advancement with fewer checks and measures than their Federation brethren - they are so impressed with what they can do they don't necessarily think about what they should do. As a result Cassandra Kressnov has been created - the most highly advanced hunter-killer cyborg of all time, except now she's gone rogue and has decided that civilian life is for her, civilian life amongst the tech-savvy Callay capital of Tanusha, a Federation planet.

Basically this trilogy covers Sandy's struggle to become "normal" and accepted within a society that thinks of her as a monster. The books cover some great political and philosophical ground with a tech-noir bent and measures of anti-racism and anti-discrimination - based on just about anything - thrown into the mix. A fun and fast read where the pace hardly ever lets up, I greatly enjoyed every book - Joel Shepherd is an Aussie author to look out for. Very cool covers on the US versions from Pyr which are what I have.

John Scalzi - Old Man's War / The Ghost Brigades / The Last Colony - a great little trilogy of novels where Scalzi explores themes of Humanity, our place in the Universe and a few other bits and pieces, all against a Starship Troopers-esque backdrop of alien arse kicking and violent Human expansion and colonisation. A very fun trilogy with some fascinating takes on aliens and just how virulent the human race could be once it reaches the stars. I greatly enjoyed this series and look forward to reading the rest of his books either in this universe or out.

Ian C Esslemont - Return of the Crimson Guard - Esslemont's second foray into the Malazan world shows just how far he has come as a writer since the so-so Night of Knives. Quite an enjoyable read and fits in very well with Erikson's existing Malazan novels (this occurs, for the most part, somewhere between Reaper's Gale and Toll the Hounds) although curiously the story of the titular Crimson Guard themselves was probably the weakest storyline of the whole book! It was a little confusing at first as he has many plot threads starting in the first 100 pages or so but he quickly manages to weave together culminating in the largest battles yet depicted in the Malazan universe. I especially loved Nait's storyline and antics and the novel also features an absolutely HUGE event in the Malazan world so MUST be read by those who are enjoying Erikson's books.

CURRENT "TO READ" PILE

2008-10-24T15:43:00.005+11:00

Just a list to remind me to stop watching TV, stop going to the pub, and get on that couch and read Boy, READ! In no particular order as I decide on a whim when I finish each book which one to read next. (Number) indicates an omnibus edition or series.

Here are the ones actually on my shelf:

Kevin J Anderson - The Ashes of Worlds (just started this morning)
Terry Pratchett - Nation
Lynne Truss - Eats, Shoots & Leaves
John Lindqvist - Let The Right One In
Mervyn Peake - The Gormenghast Trilogy (3)
Hugh Cook - Chronicles of an Age of Darkness (9 - gotta find #10)
Glen Cook - First Chronicles of the Black Company (2 - already read book 1)
John Scalzi - The Ghost Brigades & The Last Colony (2)
Jeff Lindsay - Dexter In The Dark
Ian Cameron Esslemont - Return of the Crimson Guard
Robin Hobb - Shaman's Crossing (need to buy the 2 sequels first)
Stephen King - The Mist (and other short stories)
China Mieville - Perdido Street Station
Fritz Leiber - Ill Met in Lankhmar
Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn (need to buy the 2 sequels first)
Rudyard Kipling - The Complete Jungle Book
Herman Melville - Moby Dick
Gene Wolfe - Severian of the Guild (4)
Daniel Abraham - The Long Price (2)
Greg Keyes - Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone (4)
Michael Moorcock - Various (if I ever get 'round to them)
David Gunn - Death's Head
Martin/Dozois/Abraham - Hunter's Run

So yeah, I guess that proves I'm sort of a compulsive book buyer who really should actually read more. Some of those I've had forever (Moorcock, Leiber, Hobb) and the list just kinda proves that I need to join a library and try and save my pennies... Nah, bugger that!

I've also got a list of books I still want to buy that is actually longer than that above... Woo hoo! :)

BOOK PR0N

2008-10-23T12:05:00.012+11:00

So some books that I ordered last week from Book Depository and ABE Books arrived today - woo hoo!

First up is the final installment in Kevin J Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns - The Ashes of Worlds. I've quite enjoyed this series so far, probably because it is Sci-Fi Lite and more Space Opera than anything else, hard sci-fi makes my brain hurt a little. I didn't enjoy the previous novel so much but I have been told that it ends quite satisfactorily and I'm certainly not going to not read the seventh book after reading the first six!

Next up are the two sequels to John Scalzi's Old Man's War which I really enjoyed quite a bit - again sci-fi lite with a real feeling of deja-vu in that I swear these books were inspired by Heinlein's Starship Troopers (which is a much better book than the moofies would have you believe) and are a very enjoyable and easy read.

And after those we have Terry Pratchett's Nation, his first non-Discworld novel in quite a few years. It's quite sad that Terry has a form of Alzheimers that may mean his regular yearly and even six monthly novel production may slow down dramatically but I've heard this novelis really quite something, so looking forward to it quite a bit.

Next up is Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots & Leaves, a book about punctuation use and rules in written English and how it can affect what a sentence means. I'm a bit of a spelling and punctuation Nazi (thanks Dad) so to make sure I'm always correct I thought Id give this a go. Been meaning to read it for years to be honest.

Second to last is John Ajvide Lindqvist's Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) is a Swedish vampire horror novel(translated to English of course). I recently saw the film of this at the Melbourne International Film Festival and when I found out it was based on a book I knew I just had to get it. I'm not a massive fan of vampire movies, books or anything really, but I loved this film and suspect I'll enjoy the book.

Last up is Hugh Cook's fourth book in the classic Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series, The Walrus and the Warwolf - I really enjoyed this series when I read it in my early teens and recently bought all of the books bar this one and the last one. So I'm yet to get the last one (which I think has only been self-published and was never released) and plan on giving these a rip through maybe sometime in the new year.

Now the big question is - what do I read first? I should finish Killswitch tonight... Maybe Ashes of Worlds, or possibly The Ghost Brigades... Decisions, decisions...

I'll maybe do another post with all the other books on my "to read" shelf - it's getting quite packed, I'll need to concentrate and read more!

MY HOBBY #2 - WATCHING THE TUBE

2008-10-16T12:16:00.006+11:00

So basically what my hobbies are revealing (or at least confirming) is that I am a total bum and an absolute couch potato - in fact most of the joy in my life comes from sitting or lying on a couch. One said joy is being mesmerised, disgusted and moved by "my stories" (as Nanna Mac calls them) on the television.

I guess I'll just list a few of my favourite shows throughout the years and maybe a couple of anecdotes that will in the end mean absolutely nothing to anyone but me, but then isn't that the point of 90% of blogs?

Favourite Show Ever - The West Wing - easily the greatest television show ever created by Man. I was hooked from the beginning despite Channel 9 in Australia showing it at God awful hours which changed from week to week - I think the earliest it ever started was at 10:30pm the latest not at all! I purchased a bunch of the DVDs but was also gifted with a complete box set of all 7 seasons by my little Bro' for my 30th which I immediately used to re-watch the entire series from start to finish for about a month or two earlier this year. With such intelligent and funny writing I still pick up extra bits and pieces every time I re-watch it. Amazingly well acted with such a feeling of hope that maybe all politics doesn't need to be dirty - of course they never actually achieved anything in the show, but that doesn't matter does it? Favourite episode would have to be the final of season 2 with the death of a much loved character and President Josiah Bartlett deciding on whether to run for a second term - the end scene is just so powerful and is a stunning achievement in television.

Honourable Mentions: E.R., NCIS, Ugly Betty, Battlestar Galactica (new), Metal Mickey, Astro Boy, Robotech, Family Ties, Coupling, House.

Most Memorable Moment - E.R. - Death of Dr. Greene - well actually the episode where we first learn that he died and not the next episode where we see him carking it. It was the scene where Noah Whyle's character is reading out a letter from Greene's wife Elizabeth in that central area in the E.R. and we get to see all the regular character's reactions. Great TV and I don't mind saying I cried like a baby. I haven't watched the last 3 or 4 seasons of E.R., I dunno its maybe lost its charm for me, but everything before that I saw religiously.

Honourable Mentions: Battlestar Galactica - Adama being shot - both times!, The West Wing - learning of Leo's death and Josh's reaction to it (another tear jerker that gets me every time), Family Ties - when Alex is high on speed, Coupling - whole Melty Man episode, Buffy - Hush episode.

You know what? I'll leave it at that for the moment. I could name dozens of shows that I like and watch, but maybe I'll just do mini-posts about them in the future, if I could even be bothered. I had high hopes for this post when I started it but now I'm bored and wanna go watch some more West Wing, ciao!

MY HOBBY #1 - READING

2008-10-03T10:53:00.017+10:00

I'm a reader. There I said it. Not a particularly good or well-read one, but a reader I am nonetheless.

I read more than some and less than others. I would say I'm a slow and inconsistent reader as it can take me 3 weeks to read a 350 page novel or a weekend to read a 900 page novel. I guess it just depends on how interested I am in the novel and also the social pressures that being a beer drinker puts on me during that particular time.

And like some, I like to buy my books and keep hold of them. Until recently the majority of books went into piles in the bottom of my cupboard due to the fact of not having many bookshelves, however this has recently been (mostly) rectified with a move of house and thanks to a meme found over at Speculative Horizons I thought I might post up a few pictures of my wonderful collection of fantasy and sci-fi novels.

So to the left we have a pic of the whole shebang - not a huge collection but I love it all the same. I was worried about the heater/air-con unit above the bookcases having a detrimental effect on the books but it doesn't seem to have had any effects during the heat blasting through winter.

I order the books pretty randomly although they are sorted into series' by author and of course publishing or possibly reading order within that.

There are a few missing (and I'll note where) due to borrowing by friends or my bro'. Also there are more on an old bookshelf in my room that aren't really my favourites but I have kept a hold of just for the hell of it. Still to decide if I'll keep them or send them off to the charity shop.

Those extra shelves you can see at the bottom left of screen were not needed and the price of them alone will buy me a whole new bookshelf to replace the old one in my room. So, onto the books!

(no linking, you can Google or Wikipedia stuff on your own if you are so inclined)

The top shelf has my two favourite series': George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. The first Malazan book is on loan to a mate who won't appreciate it.

Next shelf we have the lovely Robin Hobb novels all of which I've liked, then the Joe Abercrombie series The First Law - brilliant series that I have had several friends read and thank me for recommending. Then Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns, must grab the last book although I think he's lost his way in the previous two novels of the series, but am happy to finish it.

Next is the Terry Pratchett shelf which is by no means complete - something I really must rectify as I absolutely adore all of his work.
Must ask Jack what he thought of Good Omens and make him return it to me...

Next shelf is a bit of a mixed bag (again with a few missing). Really liked the Bakker series, and at the top left are two books in Hugh Cook's Chronicles of an Age of Darkness - I read that series as a teenager and recently re-bought them all recently (bar the final book) and plan on re-reading them soon - at the moment this shelf is far more packed since taking this photo - I just can't stop buying books!

Next up we have what could be termed the "kids" shelf. John Marsden's Tomorrow series was just brilliant although I think he was flogging a dead horse with the Ellie Chronicles. I was totally against Harry Potter when he first became popular but then got sucked in and have read the series twice now - they're enjoyable and I am less of a reading snob these days - if that can be said of any person that reads almost exclusively in the fantasy genre.

Next to those are Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionovar Tapestry which I really didn't enjoy that much at all.

Bottom shelf of bookcase number 1 has some favourite Tad Williams with his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy plus the Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman. I've yet to read some of those Moorcock books on the far right that I picked up on the cheap about 12 years ago, I liked the thin ones in the middle.

I wasn't a fan of Williams' Otherland series but maybe I need to give it another go someday...

On to bookcase number 2 and the top shelf has Jordan's Wheel of Time all in Tor hardcover (except New Spring) plus Wurts and Feist's fantastic Empire Trilogy - my favourite of Feist's.

Next shelf is completely Feist where I need to grab a few of the first novels in hardcover to complete the collection.

Shelf 3 is mostly my "to read" shelf. I've read the fantastic Richard Morgan novels (love Takeshi Kovacs trilogy) and most of those on the right were enjoyable, especially Mary Gentle's Grunts!

The next two shelves feature some of my favourite classics of the genre - the required Tolkien (enjoyed but don't love), Eddings (he was a gun in the 80s and 90s and the Belgariad began my affair with fantasy), Gary Gygax (I re-read these Gord the Rogue novels every few years), McCaffrey's Pern series (truly a classic though have not read the newer ones in the last few years), and a mixed bag of Terry Brooks (who I can take or leave although the Elfstones of Shannara is still one of my most favourite books ever).

And last but not least the Sara Douglass shelf. There are a few books missing here as my brother has nicked them, but I really liked her Axis and Wayfarer Redemption trilogies. I think her best work is The Crucible quartet (not least because I am thanked along with others in The Wounded Hawk for helping out on her web site message board). I was not a fan of the Troy Game and have yet to try Darkglass Mountain - too many others to read before that!

So there you have it, about 90% of my collection. I used to own many, many more but during the mid-90s I had a bit of a clean out and traded in a bunch, I've also obviously read many more than what features here although those tended to be early days when I still bothered going to libraries. I like owning the books I read - good or bad - and ever since I found The Book Depository I've been buying more and more.

What I really need to do though is have a consistent reading habit. At the moment I mostly read on the tram to and from work and in front of the TV, all of which means I can get very distracted. What I need is a good reading chair with a side table for my beer and crisps that doesn't have a view of anything to distract me. Perhaps the next place I move to can have a spare room dedicated to this and other leisurely pursuits? We shall see...

Might do a post soon on my to read list - the novels that I plan to add to the collection and those I already bought.

SWEAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE

2008-09-23T17:08:00.006+10:00

I have weird dreams.

I can never remember them but I remember that I have them. I wake up several times almost every night (light sleeper when I'm not pissed as a fart) and I feel instantly alert and fully conscious. Then I recall what my brain was just doing and more often than not I'll audibly say "What the fuck was that?" or "Get out of my head!" or something along those lines anyway. Then five minutes later I'm back to sleep and have forgotten everything that just happened except for the fact that I just woke up. I'd keep a dream diary to find out what my messed up head is coming up with but I can't see a damn thing at that stage of the night, what with the dark and without my contacts, plus it'd probably just cause me to stay awake.

I said to Housemate last night that if I was to record the evening's boudoir audio that it'd be filled with loud farts, the sound of a fat dude rolling over in bed every few minutes and the tourette's style muttering of an insane person. When you played it back you'd have to turn the volume up really loud to catch the various soliloquies much like that scene from The Sixth Sense... Of course then you'd be deafened by the massive BLARRRRRT of one of my regular gas expulsions, but such is life.

What woman wouldn't want him, I hear you ask? A crazy one, obviously.

The sweat (rather than sweet) in the post title refers to the fact that I also sometimes wake up with my head absolutely soaked in sweat, I mean pools of the stuff on my pillow and my hair drenched, and yet everything else is squeaky clean. I dunno, maybe I have some kind of head fungal infection, or those dreams of being able to breathe underwater actually refer to Housemate trying to drown me. So kinda gross and something the internet needed to know (I realise I am communicating to a vast conglomerate of information that I like to think of as a physical entity, rather than individual human beings, I know no one reads this shit but me).

I need to replace the pillows rather often, or at least I should :-)

Also fucking MARVELLOUS is in my head every single FUCKING day.

Although I'm kinda getting used to it now... can't find the original on YouTube though.

I'M A CHEATER

2008-09-19T15:15:00.004+10:00

For some reason whilst watching the Hamish & Andy episode of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader last night, a memory flashed through my head from Primary School days.

I figure it was when the teacher got bored that they would decide that we'd play a game called "Heads Down Thumbs Up" - an absolutely genius game where you lay your head on your desk and scrunch your eyes shut, stick your thumbs up and then a group of 3 or so people would go around the room and squeeze someone's thumbs. Once done those squeezees would have to guess the squeezers and if they guessed correctly they became a squeezer... Like I said, genius!

Only I would always cheat... I'd lay my forehead on the edge of the desk, pretend to close my eyes, and then watch the shoes of the squeezers as they travelled around the room, if they squeezed my thumb it was easy to figure out who had performed said action based on their penchant for Mr Men socks or bright buckles. For some reason the teachers never said anything even though I was sure they could tell I wasn't putting my head on the table properly, maybe they thought it was 'cause of the huge coke bottle glasses I was sporting at that tender age.

The things we remember are so weird sometimes...

(yes I am aware that is a Cheetah, not a Cheater, I was being facetious or ironic or just plain dumb)

TOLL THE HOUNDS

2008-09-18T12:35:00.005+10:00

I was introduced to the Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by my friend Betty at the start of 2007. That year I powered through the first 7 novels almost all in a row and loved every second of it - here was a complex and stunningly realised storyline filled with fascinating characters and situations; Steven Erikson quickly became one of my favourite authors ever.

So I just finished Toll the Hounds, the 8th novel in the 10 book series and it did not fail to deliver one iota. I'm not really a person who likes to "review" moofies or books or anything really - if I like it I'll tell you and then you can make up your own mind. But I just have to say here that this man really knows how to write humour and sadness and wrap it all together in a compelling and beautiful story. I am constantly amazed at the complexity of the plots and the deftness that he switches between story lines within not only a novel but in the series as a whole.

While reading the Malazan novels I am always asking myself if he had actually planned all that I have been reading from the very beginning, maybe not every single detail, but certainly the general gist of each of the major stories and how they interact and intertwine around each other. If you're a fan of Fantasy or Science Fiction then you just have to read this series - although the first novel, Gardens of the Moon, can actually be quite hard to get into as it starts half way through a war and you just have no idea about anything that is going on, but persevere and I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed. Even if you're not a fan of Fantasy as a genre, try and give this series a go.

The other great thing about Erikson is that he has been releasing a book each year, unlike certain other authors, he can stick to his vision and write a fascinating and complex story and keep it all together and still release books on a regular basis. George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is probably on the same complexity scale but bugger me doesn't he take a while to write his books! But I suppose you can't expect all authors to have the same rate of output and I prefer to wait for GRRM so long as he releases quality product.

I loved this book and its stunning conclusion that sets up the grand finale of the final two volumes - bring on Dust of Dreams!

I CAN'T GET ADSL AT HOME :-(

2008-09-11T15:36:00.002+10:00

Ok, I've calmed down now and I can type with fewer mashings at the keyboard with my bloody fists.

In Summary: I admit defeat and am researching wireless internet companies.

In not so Summary but not so long that it will make me angry again: EDIT: although turns out it did:

I moved in to a shiny apartment about 2 or 3 years old in the middle of busy Brunswick in Melbourne, an inner-north city Suburb (15-25 minute tram ride into city depending on traffic)
There are phone points in both bedrooms and the kitchen
Signed up with Telstra to get a phone number which will then get disconnected so I can get Naked DSL with iiNet - NOTE: ALWAYS test the phone line once Telstra says it has been connected, probably would have saved some hassles.
Signed up with iiNet, could not get service working, they sent out a Vision Stream technician.
Technician was really cool and pointed out to me that only one pair of phone lines (one cable) was coming into the building from the street. Temporarily nicked one and proved that cabling up to apartment was fine - just no cables coming in from street
iiNet had Telstra technician come out and he showed me the cables curled up in a roll in the hole in the street about 10 metres from the MDF in the garage of the building - he could not bring the cable through for me and said it would be a big job
Spoke with real estate agent (who has been FANTASTIC throughout the whole ordeal - quite bonkable as well, but that's beside the point (isn't it always?)) who spoke with owner of apartment who also happens to be guy that built the building and builds lots of buildings and ordinarily has great relationship with Telstra 'cause he gives them lots of work
I go on holidays for a month but still check in with estate agent, still no luck though owner says he PAID Telstra to put in 30 lines (15 cables) when the building was built and was not aware that only one pair had been pulled through
Telstra eventually tells landlord that if I apply for a new phone line to be installed, Telstra will charge me $300 for it
Landlord agrees to this and says he will re-imburse me by lowering rent for a month by that amount
Two days ago I call Telstra to organise phone line to be installed, I am UNDENIABLY CLEAR about what needs to happen, that a technician is needed and he needs to pull cables in from the street - they tell me all is fine and to be home between 8am and 12pm today (Thursday)
Come 10:30 today I am getting worried and not a little suspicious, so I call up Telstra to check that they do actually have someone coming out today - erm, sorry sir, there is no record of that... WTF!!!???!!! They put me through to a guy who will organise a site visit by a technician as YESTERDAY it was "discovered" that I would need a technician (obviously they didn't listen to me the first time) and they neglected to tell me that the appointment had been cancelled
I fume and swear and get pissed off but realise I am getting pissed off at people who have no control over what has happened and are trying to fix it, I agree to a technician coming out next Tuesday
I decide to call Telstra after the 30 minute call earlier to complain because God damn it I TOLD them what needed to happen - I was just repeating what THEIR technician told me! But more importantly, they never contacted me about the cancelled appointment and I have wasted half a day of leave that I really did not want to waste.
I get through to complaints and rather tersely but eloquently explain the problem - again I realise this guy is not at fault, he's just taking my complaint down and trying to sort out the issue, so I am civil but he knows I'm frustrated - trust me, I may raise my voice a little but I do not yell at these people, in the end shit happens and they are just doing their job (some of them not doing it very well)
He "officially" organises for a Telstra technician to come out on Tuesday to install the line, the way he's talking he knows what he's doing and he even says he has worked there for many years so understands the situation
Before hanging up, just in case, I ask him to state to me clearly on the phone that the technician on Tuesday will be pulling the cable in from the street, connecting it to the MDF and getting me a frickin' phone line... "Oh no sir, the technician is not qualified to do that, you'd have to talk to our Contract Liaison Area, here's their number and here's your order number"
"Ah, Ok. That's cool, glad I asked - just in case, these guys will still just charge me the $300 to have the line installed yes?"
"Oh no sir, it could cost up to thousands to bring the cable through and they may need to add new external cabling or even an MDF to the building, actually you should probably have the owner of the building contact them instead."
At this point I almost chuck a fit 'cause I've been telling this guy my sob story as a RENTER for the last 30 minutes and also how the owner already contacted Telstra and they said all I needed to do was yadda yadda yadda...
He says sorry mate but there's nothing I can do, you'll just have to give the details to the owner and hope for the best. I admit he was friendly and sympathetic and actually knew what he was doing, but man he heard some muttering on the end of the line then. I thanked him, and hung up.
So I've given the details to the real estate agent who will pass them on to the owner
I then sat back and cried for a minute or two, curled up in a ball and sucked my thumb
Tonight I am knocking on neighbours' doors and asking them if they have tried getting lines installed before.
I called iiNet and asked for cancellation and refund, at first they were not going to refund the initial $453 install, setup, modem and first month's fees but I asked to talk to a supervisor and we negotiated that I would get a refund for everything except initial setup cost ($79.95) and whatever the difference is to make up the $150 early disconnection fee from the 24 month contract - so essentially $150 is down the drain. I'm not happy but I'll accept it as iiNet have been ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC throughout this whole process with great staff on the phone and in person and I told them that in their feedback survey thing - I recommend them to ANYONE who is looking for a company with exemplary customer service.
So now I start looking for wireless internet providers and give up on the dream of lightning fast download speeds

You know the thing that still makes me wonder is the fact that there are 5 other apartments in this building with no phone lines and they've apparently never tried to get them connected... God I'd laugh if the apartment that does have a line connected isn't using theirs...

And how hard can it be to pull a cable through? There's already one physically there so couldn't they do the old disconnect original cable, attach a string to it, pull it back into the street and then pull the whole lot through? Why didn't someone do that THE FIRST FUCKING TIME!!!???

God I need some beer...

GARDENS OF THE MOON SP. ED.

2008-09-10T09:58:00.002+10:00

See now this kind of art is why I bought this book... Plus I really like the words and stuff in it...

Thanks Pat

INSIDE FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

2008-09-08T10:52:00.005+10:00

So Sunday was a lazy day of nothingness. I woke up early after big nights on Friday and Saturday at the pub (happy birthday Dan you old fart and Cheer Cheer the Red & the White!) and didn't feel like reading so that naturally means it is moofie watching time.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - absolutely piss funny. There were some strange editing choices and the story seemed a little stilted in places but I was giggling the whole way through. Loved the "I can see dead pixels" t-shirt - yes, I am a geek. Nice to see the main actor, Jason Segel, managed to play the main role of a script he had written - but I guess he couldn't in good conscience ask someone else to get their dick out that much. Was also great to see Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars and the in-joke about Pulse was amusing. 4.5 out of 5

Inside - I realised not far into this that I was watching a French horror film dubbed in German and with English subtitles, I'm just so damn cosmopolitan. Not the greatest horror film ever made and certainly has a few stupid cliches thrown in that kinda ruined it for me, but basically watchable. Some pretty atrocious violence but I guess that was the point and I liked he ending. 2 out of 5 Eviscerations

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

2008-09-05T10:19:00.010+10:00

When I first moved to Melbourne in late 2001 I thought I was quite the moofie buff. I loved going to the moofies (that spelling is a reference to The Late Show, one of the funniest Aussie sketch comedy shows ever) almost every weekend and often during the week. I'd see anything and everything that I could, including all the crappy rom coms, kids films, dull action films - anything! Of course this was coming from Albury, where for much of my life it only had two screens to show moofies on - not exactly today's modern multiplex. Not to menton the films I was seeing were predominantly Hollywood, UK or Australian produced; I was not exactly a world cinema expert.

In mid-2002 I had my first experience of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) where for around two weeks there are many screenings of films from all over the world in just about any language you can name. I think I saw Gojo that year and a few animation sessions. Over the next few years I went to a session here and there when I could be bothered, or if I even knew that MIFF was on. It wasn't until I became friends with Jack that my eyes were opened to the entoxicating miasma that surrounds MIFF.

Jack has been attending MIFF in full for about 10 years now, and by in full I mean he takes the two weeks off work and attempts to see 5 to 7 films a day. He invited me along to the closing night film of 2005, Election (not a brilliant film, but watchable), and of course the alcohol fuelled after-party at Cookie afterwards. It was there that I met a group of true cinephiles, people who had been attending MIFF for even longer than Jack and who absolutely adored the cinematic medium, who were more than happy to see an atrociously bad film just so they could discuss and bag it out afterwards, who loved cinema in all its glory and depravity equally. I'd met some real-life Margaret & Davids!

I was hooked.

In 2006 I took the two and a half weeks off work to go and see as many films as possible, whilst also downing quite a few beers along the way - there's no point taking time off work unless there is alcohol involved. Opening night party, the after party, hotel shenanigans - now THAT is a long story - and film after film after film. Drama, comedy, doco, horror, action, musical, thriller, rom com, animation, kids, experimental, shorts - you name it, MIFF has it. I think in that first year I saw around 80 films out of the possible 105 or so sessions, not bad for my first effort. I will admit it was bloody exhausting hurrying between cinemas to not be late to sessions - there would often be days where I'd just have to catch snacks in between sessions, days where I would maybe see a total of an hour of "outside". Glorious.

I again attended in 2007 (about 60 films) and again 2008 (45 films). This year was a little different in that both Jack and I had agreed to take it relatively easy: no rushing between cinemas, lots of trips to the pub, many football games watched and plenty of sessions skipped if we weren't in the mood or too hung over. Even though I probably saw half as many films as I could have this year, it was the most fun year yet with a nice relaxed atmosphere and plenty of good times to be had. The closing night film and after party were absolute gold with Jack & I inviting along great friends Panda and James to see the horrifically wonderful [REC] and then drinking copious amounts of beer at Billboard where many a dance style was murdered.

As far as I can tell I'll be attending MIFF for as many years as possible. A lot of people have told me that staying in Melbourne is not a real holiday but with the films I see, I travel all around the world and back dozens of times over in the encompassing comfort of a well padded cinema seat and the warm familiarity of the screen's glow with the ticking of the projector soothing my worries away.

MIFF, I loves ya...

And I haven't even discussed the actual films yet! Methinks that's for several other posts.

(I have photos which I'll put up when I get a chance)

TEMPTATION...

2008-09-04T10:31:00.004+10:00

Went into a Virgin store yesterday to find out iPhone prices:

8GB black iPhone with 1GB download = $70 pcm
16GB white iPhone with 1GB download = $74 pcm
16GB white iPhone with 5GB download = $100 pcm

I'd probably go with option 2 - I couldn't see myself using more than a gig of download per month when all I'd want to do is check gmail, work email, blogs, movie times, news and just general surfing. And if I was using more than a gig then I'd upgrade or slap myself in the face for being an internet whore.

So very tempted... There is some kind of Apple event next week where it is believed new iPod Touch versions will be announced but that is unlikely to adjust pricing on iPhones. Why did Steve Jobs announce the pricing of iPhones as $199 for 8GB and $299 for 16GB if you can't actually buy one for that price? Instead you have to sign up for a contract with a mobile company, or at the very least get it pre-paid with someone like Optus and still have to pay around $800 - $900 for the phone.

Meh, in the end I don't really need an iPhone as such, I'd just like to have a single device that does everything with a decent amount of storage space on it - if I could find a viable alternative then bring it on. Currently I have my Nokia 6300 for phone and radio and an Onda VX767 for MP3/MP4 but neither has internet connectivity. Internet would be damn handy if I need to check my emails on the road (or even at home right now since I have no 'net there), transfer money between accounts outside bank opening times, and to only worry about owning one charger and most of all to only have to carry one device around rather than fill up all my pockets. Once summer hits and I have less pockets to fill, carrying a phone and an MP3/MP4 player around plus my headphones is gonna suck arse. :-(

Why is technology so unkind?

WHEREFORE ART THOU RADIO?

2008-09-02T15:36:00.007+10:00

Why on Earth would the iPhone not have a built in FM tuner and MMS capablities? I'm even willing to use the atrocious iTunes if it means I can have one device that does everything and the iPhone, apart from those two major (in my eyes) flaws, is perfect.

Damn you Steve Jobs! Damn you to HELL!

I listen to the radio almost every weekday morning on the tram on the way to work, and sometimes in the afternoon. But I often listen to my MP3s at that time as well, so a device that does the lot would be great. My current Nokia 6300 does, in fact, do all this but it only has a 2 GB memory card in it at the moment (about 20 albums) and it has no internet connectivity or the cool touch screen stuff, not to mention video capabilities.

I don't use MMS too often but it is sometimes fun to send pictures of your privates to federal politicians' mobile phones during intermission at the theatre - I mean, who doesn't? Well iPhone users, obviously, unless they email them.

Now to search for viable alternatives to the iPhone or third-party widgets for the iPhone that actually work to listen to the radio and send and receive MMS.

BEEN CAUGHT READIN' ONCE WHEN I WAS FIVE

2008-09-02T14:57:00.010+10:00

I was going through my work PC trying to clean up a few things and found a file with a list of all the books I had read in 2007, including a few re-reads like Changeling and Harry Potter. Normally I don't keep track of what books I read except to say that I have read them, but I think sometime last year or earlier this year I was curious to find out how many I had read in 2007. By no means is this a large list - I'm a slow reader - but it was kind of fun in an ultra geeky way to compile. I've also added the list so far for 2008, you know, for shits and giggles.

My only real New Years Resolution for '08 was to read more books than last year and I suspect I shall accomplish that. God I am Great. I'd be curious to figure out how many in total I have read over the past 20 years of my love of Fantasy and Science Fiction but I suspect I've forgotten too many to bother with an inane task such as that...

---=== 2007 ===---

Steven Erikson - Gardens of the Moon (Malazan 1)
Steven Erikson - Deadhouse Gates (Malazan 2)
Steven Erikson - Memories of Ice (Malazan 3)
Steven Erikson - House of Chains (Malazan 4)
Steven Erikson - Midnight Tides (Malazan 5)
Steven Erikson - The Bonehunters (Malazan 6)
Steven Erikson - Reaper's Gale (Malazan 7)
Chris Kubasik - Changeling (Shadowrun 5)
Kevin J Anderson - Metal Swarm (Saga of Seven Suns 6)
Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
Glen Cook - The Black Company (Black Company 1)
Terry Pratchett - Making Money
Neil Gaiman - American Gods
Jeff Lindsay - Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter 1)
Jeff Lindsay - Dearly Devoted Dexter (Dexter 2)
Raymond E Feist - Into A Dark Realm (Darkwar 2)
Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard 1)
Scott Lynch - Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard 2)
Guy Gavriel Kay - The Summer Tree (Fionovar Tapestry 1)
Guy Gavriel Kay - Te Wandering Fire (Fionovar Tapestry 2)
Guy Gavriel Kay - The Darkest Road (Fionovar Tapestry 3)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter 1)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter 2)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter 3)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter 4)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter 7)

Plus 3 novellas which don't really count:

Steven Erikson - Blood Follows (Malazan Novella)
Steven Erikson - The Lees of Laughter's End (Malazan Novella)
Steven Erikson - The Healthy Dead (Malazan Novella)

---=== 2008 ===---

Mary Gentle - Grunts!
Robert A Heinlein - Stranger In A Strange Land
Karen Miller - The Innocent Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker 1)
Karen Miller - The Awakened Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker 2)
Joe Abercrombie - The Blade Itself (The First Law 1)
Joe Abercrombie - Before They Are Hanged (The First Law 2)
Ian McDonald - Brasyl
Richard Morgan - Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs 1)
Simon Hawke - The Outcast (Tribe of One 1)
Simon Hawke - The Seeker (Tribe of One 2)
Simon Hawke - The Nomad (Tribe of One 3)
Raymond E Feist - Wrath of a Mad God (Darkwar 3)
Chelsea Cain - Heartsick
Richard Morgan - Broken Angels (Takeshi Kovacs 2)
Richard Morgan - Woken Furies (Takeshi Kovacs 3)
Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument of Kings (The First Law 3)
Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space
R. Scott Bakker - The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince of Nothing 1)
R. Scott Bakker - The Warrior Prophet (The Prince of Nothing 2)
R. Scott Bakker - The Thousandfold Thought (The Prince of Nothing 3)
John Scalzi - Old Man's War
Ian Cameron Esslemont - Night of Knives (Malazan Companion 1)
Richard Morgan - Market Forces
Tobias Buckell - Crystal Rain (Nanagada 1)
Steven Erikson - Toll The Hounds (Malazan 8)

2008 has been a great year as I've discovered some fantastic new (to me) authors like Richard Morgan, Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch. I've also found the Book Depository web site which has free worldwide shipping and they send each book out in its own individual packaging meaning no orders are delayed because of one hard to get or yet to be published novel. It's cheaper than buying books at the local Dymocks or Borders plus they are delivered to my desk at work. My "to read" shelf is chock full with about 20 books at any one time and I also have another 15 or so sitting in the "to be purchased" bin at the web site; it's an addiction.

OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN

2008-09-02T14:34:00.006+10:00

So I just went ahead and purchased the limited edition of Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon by Subterranean Press. After the debacle of trying to get the lettered editions of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (long and dumb story) I really shouldn't have done it. But I love the series so much that I just couldn't resist, besides, the art in and on it by Kormarck is astonishingly brilliant! At least I didn't spend twice as much and grab the lettered edition... Of course now I have to purchase the next 9 books in the series and maybe even Ian Cameron Esslemont's companion Malazan novels... Whoops!

Thanks once again to fang for putting me on to this guy. I'm currently reading Toll the Hounds, book 8 of 10, and managed to read all 7 previous novels in a row last year, which was just brilliant fun - don't get me started on how much I detest waiting ages for novels in a series.

$17 + $11.90 = $FUCK YOU!

2008-09-02T13:52:00.004+10:00

That was the cost of a moofie ticket to see Hellboy II - The Golden Army and a medium popcorn and coke at Hoyts last weekend.

$28.90 = the price of a DVD of Hellboy II when it comes out in a couple of months, which I can watch on the 46" HD LCD at home and get more enjoyment out of because of the following:

There is no pair of fuckheads talking through the movie who are sitting next to me, or if there are, I can tell them to leave B). DVD extras
Pause for toilet breaks
Better popcorn and non-flat coke
I can watch it whenever the Hell I like

The price of cinema tickets these days is ridiculous and with the absolute explosion in people in Australia downloading moofies you'd think they'd have some better ideas about how to get the punters in rather than raise the prices. And yet The Dark Knight has just become the second highest grossing film of all time - so perhaps it's the studios' fault for not making films that you just have to see at the cinema?

Not to mention the proliferation of the home cinema and the ability to buy one DVD for many people to watch at the same time. Cinemas need to start offering more than what they are giving us and Gold Class or half-pipe is not the answer.

Bah! I'll be seeing Wall-E at the cinema this year but I can't think of anything else to spend $17 on at the flicks unless I go on a tight-arse Tuesday.

It's starting to be that I will only go once or twice a year outside of the film festival to see the major block busters I am interested in and the rest can be seen on DVD or downloaded. It's a crazy world when a trip to the moofies is not something to look forward to...

TESTING 1 - 2...

2008-03-20T12:37:00.003+11:00

Hey Mona! Oooooooooh Mona....

Hang on, that was Check 1 - 2...